DHAKA, BANGLADESH, June 30, 2011 (msn): Religious minorities, including Hindus, in Bangladesh slammed the approval of the 15th constitutional amendment bill that retains Islam as the state religion as it goes against the secular character of the 1972 constitution.
Bangladesh”s Parliament approved the 15th Amendment Bill 2011 that scraps the controversial nonpartisan caretaker system to conduct general elections and also retains Islam as the state religion.
Rana Dasgupta, General Secretary of Hindu Boudhha Christian Oikya Parishad, a key organisation of religious minorities in Bangladesh, said the entire nation wanted the restoration of the spirit of secularism.
The Parishad claimed it deprived the country”s nearly 25 million religious and ethnic minorities of their rights. Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Bangladesh. There are over 1 million Hindus in the country, according to the 2001 census.