US State Department Religious Freedom ReportImpediments, disparity main obstacles in Bangladesh in 2023

A US report has highlighted many impediments and disparity in practicing religious freedom despite Bangladesh publicly supporting freedom of religion amid Islam’s status in the constitution as the state religion.

According to the State Department report, leaders of religious minority communities alleged that the government frequently used laws such as the Digital Security Act (DSA) to target minorities for “hurting the religious sentiments” of Muslim populations. 

“In almost all cases, courts took harsher measures against members of religious minorities for posting allegedly derogatory content on Facebook than against the perpetrators of retaliatory violence.  Several cases followed this pattern during the year,” says the 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom recently presented by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The reported cited the example of Poritosh Sarkar, a Hindu teenager, who in February was sentenced to five years in prison in a DSA case filed against him for a social media post he made in 2021 that police said sparked communal violence in Rangpur district.

He was charged under the provision of the DSA that criminalizes publication of anything that “creates enmity, hatred or hostility among different classes or communities of the society or destroys communal harmony.” 

Local Muslims filed the case saying he made a derogatory social media post that hurt religious sentiment. In response to the post, a local mob set fire to a fishing village, razing homes inhabited by Hindus. 

“Authorities kept the teen in solitary confinement for eight months, although there is no provision in the criminal code to do so, before releasing him in 2022 after his third request for bail.  Prison authorities told the teen’s family he was being kept in solitary confinement ‘for his own safety.’  Police arrested 74 other persons following the 2021 arson and communal violence in Rangpur, but all were released on bail at various times during 2023 and none were convicted,” the report said.

In May, a court sentenced Titu Ray to 10 years in prison for demeaning Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in a 2017 Facebook post. The post sparked vandalism, and arson attacks on several houses and temples in a Hindu village, while also spurring a conflict between rioters and the police.  In clashes with police, one rioter was killed and 20 persons, including 15 policemen, were injured.  No charges were filed against those who participated in the violence, the State Department report mentioned.

According to the report, in March, hundreds of persons attacked the Ahmadia community during its annual convention in Ahmednagar, though law enforcement agencies and government officials stood by them later.

The violence resulted in two deaths, dozens of injuries, and the looting and destruction of hundreds of Ahmadia houses, one Ahmadia mosque and an Ahmadi medical clinic. In the aftermath, police filed cases against thousands of unnamed individuals and arrested more than 200, including the alleged instigators of the violence.

Muslim leaders, on the other hand, said the government continued to influence the appointment and removal of imams and provide guidance on the content of sermons to imams throughout the country.

Status of religious freedom

The report said, according to the constitution, “The state religion of the Republic is Islam, but the State shall ensure equal status and equal rights in the practice of the Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and other religions.”

Under the penal code, statements or acts made with a “deliberate and malicious” intent to insult religious sentiments are subject to fines or up to two years in prison.

The criminal code allows the government to confiscate all copies of any newspaper, magazine, or other publications containing language that “creates enmity and hatred among the citizens or denigrates religious beliefs.”

The government continued to deploy law enforcement personnel at other religious sites, festivals, and events considered potential targets for violence, including during Durga Puja, Diwali, Christmas, Easter, and the Buddhist festival of Buddha Purnima.

Hindu leaders continued to criticize the government for failing to adequately punish the perpetrators of anti-Hindu communal violence during Durga Puja celebrations in 2021. 

They noted, however, that the government took steps such as deploying additional law enforcement resources and organizing interreligious dialogue workshops to encourage religious harmony ahead of the Durga Puja celebrations in October 2023. 

There were no reports of communal violence during those celebrations. By year’s end, police had completed their investigation into 141 of the 142 cases opened following the 2021 violence.

Restrictions in religious practice

On 27 March, police detained 17 persons from a Quran teaching center in the Gulshan area of Dhaka as they engaged in regular night-time prayers during Ramadan.

Media reported that four additional Muslims were later arrested, including family members who were bringing supplies to the detainees. Police said the detainees, which included women and children, belonged to the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami and were seeking to attack the government.

The government issued written instructions highlighting certain Quranic verses and quotations of the Prophet Muhammad for imams to use. The government also instructed imams to denounce extremism.

Religious community leaders said imams in all mosques, in general, continued the practice of avoiding sermons that contradicted government policy.