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Bangladesh May Abandon Islam As Country's Official Religion

Bangladesh May Abandon Islam As Official Religion After Attacks On Minorities For Years
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As a consequence of attacks on people following different religions, India's neighbouring country Bangladesh is considering abandoning Islam as its official religion.

According to a report in Daily Mail, Bangladesh's Supreme Court has began to hear arguments which challenge Islam's status as the official state religion.

The question of changing the country's official religion has come after incessant attacks on the religious minority in the past several years. In fact, according to The Times of India, Christians, Hindus and Muslim minority Shiites have faced attacks that are believed to have been carried out by Islamic extremists.

Bangladesh was declared as a separate country after its split with Pakistan in the year 1971. In 1988, the country declared Islam as a state religion.

In February 2016, a Hindu priest was hacked to death and two devotees were injured in an attack on a temple in the country. The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for the killing in a communique posted by the IS-linked Amaq News Agency on Twitter, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online jihadi activity.

Local Islamist radicals and the Islamic State group have in the past claimed responsibility for killing minorities and foreigners. In 2015, seven people, including four atheist bloggers and two foreigners, were killed in separate attacks.

Recent data shows that 90 per cent of the population in Bangladesh is Muslim, 8 per cent are Hindus and 2 cent are of other minority religions.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.