‘islam as state religion and secularism cannot co-exist’: bangladesh’s ex chief justice amid attacks on hindu minority
Amid escalating violence against Hindus and political turmoil in Bangladesh following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government, the country’s former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Friday stated that Hasina had to go and it was only a matter of time, saying that “she had to face her fate.” Sinha, the only Hindu to become chief justice, was unconstitutionally sacked by the Hasina government over corruption charges in 2017. Later, he was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment in 2021.
He labeled the interim government of Professor Muhammad Yunus as “unconstitutional” and asserted that Hasina’s departure from power was inevitable.
Sinha, in an interview with TOI, addressed the ongoing debate about Bangladesh’s identity as a secular state. He argued that the country cannot claim to be secular while maintaining Islam as its state religion. He added that Bangladesh needs to drop its state religion if it really wants to be a secular nation.
“You will have secularism, but keep Islam as the state religion in the Constitution. The two cannot go together,” he said.
Since the fall of the Hasina government, there has been a surge in violence against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. There have been several reports of houses being burned, temples vandalised, and women being threatened and forced to leave the country.
The Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance reported that in approximately 278 locations across 48 districts of the country, the Hindus are under attack.
Sinha also criticised laws like the Vested Property Act, which he believes disproportionately affects Hindus by allowing the confiscation of their properties. “You cannot have laws like the Vested Property Act that confiscated Hindu properties. Similarly, there cannot be separate laws for the management of Hindu temples. No impunity for anyone. If real democracy, rule of law, and equality prevail, Hindus will stay safely in Bangladesh,” Sinha told TOI.
Despite the rising violence, Sinha cautioned against the idea that all Hindus should flee to India. He said, “all cannot flee to India.”
