HC rules Bangladesh secular

The High Court has ruled that Bangladesh is now a secular state in line with the original constitution of 1972 which it said had been restored automatically following the Supreme Court judgment on the Fifth Amendment.

bdnews24.com
Published : 4 Oct 2010, 09:24 AM
Updated : 4 Oct 2010, 09:24 AM
Dhaka, Oct 4 (bdnews24.com) β€” The High Court has ruled that Bangladesh is now a secular state in line with the original constitution of 1972 which it said had been restored automatically following the Supreme Court judgment on the Fifth Amendment.
The bench of justices A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Sheikh Mohammad Zakir Hossain delivered the judgment on a writ petition filed on Aug 22 this year.
The verdict says: "The original constitution has been restored automatically with the delivery of the Supreme Court judgment on the Fifth Amendment. It has brought back secularism, one of the four principles of the original constitution."
It further says: "As per article 122 of the constitution, we're supposed to go by this constitution and deliver judgments in light of it. We're not supposed to recognise any other constitution."
The verdict says no one within Bangladesh may be compelled to wear attires such as burqa and taqiyah (cap) against their wishes since it is now a secular state.
Supreme Court lawyers Mahbub Shafi and AKM Hafizul Alam filed the public interest petition after a Bengali daily ran a report titled 'Burqa mandatory at Rani Bhabani Mohila College' on that day.
The latest judgment followed the Aug 22 order by the same bench that had said no women can be forced to wear burqa at work and educational institutions and they cannot be barred from taking part in cultural activities or sports.
The court had also issued a rule upon the government to explain within three weeks why compelling women to wear burqa and barring them from sports and cultural activities would not be declared illegal.
In Monday's ruling, the court said: "...no one can be forced to wear any religious attires in the secular state. Everyone has the right to guided by one's own religion."
"For the same reason, no one can also be barred from wearing religious attires. Everyone has the right to wear the attire of one's choice maintaining decency," it adds.
The Supreme Court on Feb 2 this year upheld a verdict of the High Court delivered on Aug 29, 2005 declaring the Fifth Amendment illegal.
The regimes of Khandker Mushtaq Ahmed, Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem and Ziaur Raman have been rendered illegal by the judgment.
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