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Bangladesh Imams avoid sermons contradicting govt policy, says US
Staff Correspondent | Published: 22:09, May 16,2023 | Updated: 00:29, May 17,2023https://www.newagebd.net/article/20...oid-sermons-contradicting-govt-policy-says-us
The United States in a report on international religious freedom has said that imams in all Bangladesh mosques continue to avoid sermons that contradict government policy.
In its Bangladesh chapter, the 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom released on Monday, the US said that although there was no specific blasphemy law, authorities use the penal code, as well as a section of the Information and Communication Technology Act and the Digital Security Act, to charge individuals for acts perceived to be a slight to Islam.
The report said that ICT criminalised several forms of online expression, including ‘obscene material,’ ‘expression(s) likely to cause deterioration of law and order,’ and ‘statements hurting religious sentiments.’
It mentioned that the Digital Security Act criminalised the publication or broadcast of ‘any information that hurts religious values or sentiments’ and denied bail to detainees and increased penalties on conviction of up to 10 years in prison.
Asked for comment, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said that the report was baseless.
‘Our government is not issuing any such instructions to the mosque imams in the country,’ he added.
The constitution, the report cited, prohibits freedom of association if an association is formed for the purpose of ‘destroying the religious, social, and communal harmony among the citizens,’ or creating discrimination on religious grounds.
It said thousands of mosques, including the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka, operated under the direct authority of the Islamic Foundation and the government-funded imams and employees of those mosques.
Mosques not overseen by the Islamic Foundation still operate with oversight from a governing committee that is dominated by local ruling party politicians and administration, the report observed.
Quoting Muslim leaders, the US State Department report said that the government influences the appointment and removal of imams and provides guidance on the content of sermons to imams throughout the country.
It said that the government issued written instructions, highlighting certain verses of the Qur’an and quotations of Prophet Muhammad (SM), adding that the government also instructed imams to denounce extremism.
Religious minorities continued to state that religious minority students were sometimes unable to enrol in mandatory religion classes because of an insufficient number of teachers for students of non-Islamic faiths, according to the report.
The government continued to deploy law enforcement personnel at religious sites, festivals, and events considered potential targets for violence, including during Durga Puja, Diwali, Christmas, Easter, and the Buddhist festival of Buddha Purnima, the report said.
Human rights organisations reported a decrease in village community leaders and local religious leaders using extrajudicial fatwas to punish individuals for perceived ‘moral transgressions,’ from 12 cases in 2021 to six in 2022.
