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Bangladeshis protest against ending Islam as state religion | |
(35 minutes later) | |
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Thousands of Muslims rallied in Bangladesh’s capital on Friday to denounce a court petition seeking to remove Islam as the country’s official state religion. | |
About 3,000 Muslims protested outside the national mosque in Dhaka against the petition, filed by a group of prominent citizens, which is to be taken up by the High Court on Sunday. | |
“We are here to give a message to authorities that we will not tolerate any move to cancel Islam as state religion,” said Abdur Rahim, a participant. “We will resist such moves at any cost.” | |
More than 90 percent of Bangladesh’s 160 million people are Muslim. Hindus and Buddhists are the main religious minorities. | |
The protest, which began after weekly Friday prayers, was organized by the citizens’ group Touhidi Janata and the Islamist group Hefajat-e-Islam. No large political parties were involved. | |
Military dictator H.M. Ershad declared Islam the state religion in 1988 to win support during a campaign by major political parties to oust him from power. He resigned amid large protests in 1990. | |
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina brought back secularism as a pillar of the constitution in 2011, but retained Islam as the state religion. | Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina brought back secularism as a pillar of the constitution in 2011, but retained Islam as the state religion. |
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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