Dhaka (AsiaNews /
Agencies) - "Bangladesh does not need laws against blasphemy" according to
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the country, responding to the demands of
radical Islamists to create ad hoc laws to punish those who offend Islam and
the Prophet Muhammad. On April
6 hundreds of supporters of the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami demonstrated to
demand the death penalty for perpetrators of blasphemy, and the creation of a
law similar to those existing in Pakistan.
The
Muslim fundamentalists have given the government an ultimatum of three weeks to
approve an anti-blasphemy law and hand out a heavy punishment to the so-called
"atheist bloggers" guilty of offending Mohammed and Islam.
In
an interview with the BBC, the Prime Minister and leader of the Awami
League said: "This country is a secular democracy. So each and every
religion has the right to practice their religion freely and fair. But it is
not fair to hurt anybody's religious feeling. Always we try to protect every religious
sentiment. "
Last week, police arrested three bloggers. Human rights groups and activists from the secular and democratic movement Shahbag (to which those arrested belong, ed) have criticized
the government, accusing it of bowing to pressure from radical Muslims. However,
speaking to the BBC, Sheikh Hasina defended the decision of the police to
arrest the three bloggers. Refuting allegations of pressure, the prime minister
said: " If anybody tried to hurt any sentiments of any religion or any
religious leader, there is a law. We can take any action."
Since
the end of February more than 80 people have died in protests by supporters of
the Jamaat, which together with the Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) continues to organize strikes
(hartal) against the verdicts issued by the courts of war. Most of
the victims died at the hands of the police.
In
Bangladesh, Islam is the state religion, practiced by more than 89% of the
population. Catholics are
just 0.1%. The
Constitution does not recognize Sharia law and guarantees complete freedom of
worship, even if conversions
to a religion other than Islam are often opposed.