The Curious Case of Secularism in Bangladesh: What is the Relevance For The Muslim Majority Democracies?

Habibul Haque Khondker

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions

Publication Date

1-1-2010

Abstract

Bangladesh, the second largest Muslim democracy in the world, presents an interesting case study of a secular state for Muslim majority countries in other parts of the world. Bangladesh presents the hope that, in theory, a Muslim majority developing country can have a functional democracy. Nevertheless, the temptation of using religion for political ends remains ever present. Secularism was one of the four tenets in Bangladesh's Constitution of 1972. However, with a changing political situation at home and the appearance of political Islam abroad, the secular basis became increasingly problematic. The article examines tensions between secularist and Islamist forces in Bangladesh over time. It asks the question to what extent, if at all, the 'Bangladesh model' is relevant for other Muslim majority countries trying to democratise.

ISSN

1469-0764

Publisher

Informa UK Limited

Volume

11

First Page

185

Last Page

201

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

no

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS