Government officials in Bangladesh are considering dropping Islam as the country’s national religion.
Reports say that Dr Abdur Razzak, a leading member of Bangladesh’s ruling Awami League party, proposed the religion be withdrawn from the country’s constitution during a discussion at the National Press Club in the capital Dhaka.
“Bangladesh is a country of communal harmony. Here we live with people from all religions and Islam should not be accommodated as the state religion in the Bangladeshi constitution,” Dr Razzak said in his report.
“I have said it abroad and now I am saying it again that Islam will be dropped from Bangladesh’s constitution when the time comes. The force of secularism is within the people of Bangladesh. There is no such thing as a ‘minority’ in our country.”
Islam is the largest religion in Bangladesh, with a Muslim population of approximately 150 million – making it the fourth largest Muslim population in the world after India, Pakistan and Indonesia. Around 88% of the population are thought to be Muslims, with 11% following Hinduism.
According to a national survey from 2003, religion was the primary way Bangladeshi citizens identified themselves, and atheism was found to be rare.
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