Bangladesh
Background
Freedom of thought, conscience and speech and freedom of religion are guaranteed as fundamental rights by Articles 39 and 41 of the Constitution respectively.
Formerly part of India, and subsequently forming the eastern wing of Pakistan that was carved out of India in 1947 when British colonial rule ended; Bangladesh is located in the northeastern region of the Indian subcontinent, and has been independent since 1971. Following its independence, Bangladesh fell into authoritarianism until 1996, when Sheikh Hasina was first elected to office having campaigned for the re-establishment of democracy. However, the country’s last truly free and fair elections were held in 2008.
In August 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian Awami League government was ousted following public demonstrations. An interim government headed by Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus promised accountability and reform. Despite the end of Hasina’s rule, security forces in some cases returned to patterns of abuse that were familiar under her administration.
An amendment to the Constitution passed in 2011 established Islam as the state religion however, the article states “the State shall ensure equal status and equal right in the practice of the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and other religions.” The Constitution includes further provisions elaborating on freedom of religion, making no reference to belief and therefore the non-religious (Article 41) and prohibits discrimination based on religion (Article 28).
Among key recommendations made by the Constitutional Reform Commission in January 2025, the commission recommended the deletion of articles 8 and 12 of the Constitution, among others. In response to concerns raised by some relating to the removal of the principle of secularism, the head of the commission Ali Riaz is reported to have dismissed the principle of secularism as a Western concept not fit for application in Bangladesh arguing that secularism as professed and practiced by the Hasina regime was “limited to toleration of religious diversity.” Riaz reportedly indicated that the inclusion of the term “pluralism” is wider in scope and therefore “more encompassing” of the country’s long tradition of pluralism – be it cultural, linguistic, religious, or ethnic.
There is a rise of religious extremism and attacks on religious minorities in the country as well as an increase in the use of controversial legal provisions by the authorities to silence criticism. Additionally, between 2013-2018, several humanists or freethinking authors, bloggers and secular publishers were attacked, many of them killed.
‘Blasphemy’ laws
Chapter XV of the Penal Code provides for several criminal offenses related to religion, including defiling places of worship, interrupting services and trespass on burial grounds. Sections 295A and 298 relate to expressions “hurting religious feelings.”
Section 295A of the Penal Code states:
“Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of the citizens of Bangladesh, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.”
Section 298 of the Penal Code states:
“Whoever, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person, utters any word or makes any sound in the hearing of that person or makes any gesture in the sight of that person or places any object in the sight of that person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine, or with both.”
In September 2023, amid growing domestic and international condemnation, the government replaced the previously abusive Digital Security Act (DSA) with the Cyber Security Act, 2023 (CSA). Although framed as a more moderate alternative, the CSA retained several controversial provisions, including provisions criminalizing “hurting religious sentiments” and deteriorating public order by “disrupting communal harmony”. The CSA grants arbitrary powers to law enforcement for arrest, search, and seizure, and empowering authorities to block or filter content with minimal oversight.
Cases
In July 2020, police indicated that seeking to arrest human rights activist and secular blogger Asaduzzaman Noor, also known as Asad Noor, after new criminal charges were brought against him under the Digital Security Act for ‘spreading rumours’ and ‘defaming Islam’ via a Facebook video. Noor has previously been targeted under the 2013 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, which was the predecessor to the DSA.
In January 2017, the then 25-year old was arrested at Dhaka airport and charged with defamation of religion for content he had posted on social media. Noor was briefly released on bail in August 2018 but was subsequently re-arrested after a radical Islamic organization known as Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh called for him to be imprisoned and subjected to the death penalty. He was only released from prison again in January 2019. These charges against him remain outstanding. He lives in hiding following threats to his life.
In January 2020, it was reported that the Sufi folk singer Shariat Sarker was arrested under the DSA for hurting the religious feelings of Muslims. The arrest took place after an Islamic scholar filed a complaint against Sarker, for reportedly saying that the Quran “did not prohibit the practice of music”.