
Bangladesh is the fourth-largest Muslim-populated country. Muslims are the predominant community of the country and they form the majority of the population in all eight divisions of Bangladesh. According to the 2011 census, Bangladesh recorded a population of 149,772,364 people, of which the Muslim population was approximately 135,394,217, constituting an overwhelming 90.4% of the country’s population. The Constitution of Bangladesh declares Islam as the state religion.
Bangladeshi Muslims are descendants of Bengali Hindus and some were Bengali Buddhists. The wholesale conversion to Islam of the population of what was to become Bangladesh began in the thirteenth century and continued for hundreds of years. Conversion was generally collective rather than individual, although individual Hindus who became outcastes or who were ostracized for any reason often became Muslims. Islamic egalitarianism, especially the ideals of equality, brotherhood, and social justice, attracted numerous Buddhists and lower caste Hindus. Muslim missionaries and mystics, some of whom were subsequently regarded as saints (usually known as pirs in Bangladesh) and who wandered about in villages and towns, were responsible for many conversions.
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The history of the country indicate that religion is an integral part of Bangladeshi identity. When the Indian subcontinent gained independence from the British Empire in 1947, it was partitioned into two states, creating Pakistan out of the Muslim-majority regions of British India. The newly formed Muslim country was split in two parts, West and East Pakistan, separated by the vast landmass of northern India.
While these two parts of Pakistan shared a common faith, Islam, there were significant cultural, linguistic and political differences between them. The population in the eastern region predominantly ethnically Bengali and speaking their own language, Bangla was politically marginalized by the western region. In 1971, the people of East Pakistan launched a war for independence and founded the “Land of Bangla” Bangladesh. India played a pivotal role in offering diplomatic, military and humanitarian support to the Bengalis’ quest for freedom from Pakistan under then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Moreover, basic right is increasingly being denied to the Muslims in Bangladesh while it continues to aspire to become a “uniquely secular” society. Analyst says, Islam is becoming a “minority” day by day. Apart from undermining basic religious freedom of Muslims, the policy which turns out to be both aggressive and violent is increasingly becoming hostile to democratic principles, rule of law, freedom of movement, and political pluralism.