Irreligion in Bangladesh is rare and uncommon publicly. A ''

Gallup Gallup may refer to: * Gallup, Inc., a firm founded by George Gallup, well known for its opinion poll * Gallup (surname), a surname *Gallup, New Mexico, a city in New Mexico, United States ** Gallup station, an Amtrak train in downtown Gallup, New ...

'' survey conducted between 2014 and 2015 found that approximately less than 1% identified as convinced

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

s in the poll. Bangladesh has 165.2 million people as of the 2022 census.

Persecution of irreligious people

Many secularist or irreligious bloggers who supported the

anti-Islamist The ideas and practices of the leaders, preachers, and movements of the Islamic revival movement known as Islamism (also referred to as Political Islam) have been criticized by non-Muslims and Muslims (often Islamic modernists and liberals). A ...

2013 Shahbag protests came under attack following the protests.'

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

noted with concern the rise in

communal violence Communal violence is a form of violence that is perpetrated across ethnic or communal lines, where the violent parties feel solidarity for their respective groups and victims are chosen based upon group membership. The term includes conflicts, ri ...

against religious minorities, including attacks on Hindus. In early April 2013 the police began arresting bloggers they said were hurting religious sentiments. Four bloggers, Subrata Adhikary Shuvo, Russell Parvez, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Asif Mohiuddin (who was still recovering from his wounds), were arrested within days of one another. The blog, Amar Blog, was also taken down. A religious group called

Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh () is a Deobandi Islamist advocacy group consisting mostly of religious teachers (''Ulama'') and students in Bangladesh. The group is mainly based on qawmi madrasas in Bangladesh. In 2013, they submitted a 13-point ch ...

called for the hanging of the bloggers. Asif Mohiuddin's blog was shut down by the

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) () is an independent commission founded under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulation Act, 2001 (Act no. 18 of 2001). The commission is responsible for regulating all matters related ...

, and he was jailed for posting "offensive comments about Islam and Mohammed." The secular government arrested several other bloggers and blocked about a dozen websites and blogs, as well as giving police protection to some bloggers. International organisations, including

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

, Amnesty International,

Reporters without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...

and the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

condemned the imprisonment of bloggers and the climate of fear for journalists. Worldwide protest and demonstrations were held on in 2013 to put pressure on the Bangladeshi government to free the arrested bloggers. Several humanist groups (including the

IHEU Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Foun ...

, the

Center for Inquiry The Center for Inquiry (CFI) is a U.S. nonprofit organization that works to mitigate belief in pseudoscience and the paranormal and to fight the influence of religion in government. History The Center for Inquiry was established in 1991 by ...

, the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent non-religious people in the UK through a mixture of charitable servic ...

American Atheists American Atheists is a non-profit organization in the United States dedicated to defending the civil liberties of atheists and advocating complete separation of church and state. It provides speakers for colleges, universities, clubs, and th ...

and the

Secular Coalition for America The Secular Coalition for America is an advocacy group located in Washington D.C. It describes itself as "protecting the equal rights of nonreligious Americans." The Secular Coalition has chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, composed of lo ...

) called for their release, among others including

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

Taslima Nasrin Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi- Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writings on the oppression of women and criticism of Islam; some of her books are banned in Bangl ...

Hemant Mehta Hemant Mehta (; born February 25, 1983) is an American author, blogger, YouTuber and atheist activist. Mehta is a regular speaker at atheist events, and he has been a board member of charitable organizations such as the Secular Student Alliance ...

Maryam Namazie Maryam Namazie (; born 1966) is a British-Iranian secularist, communist and human rights activist, commentator, and broadcaster. She is the Spokesperson for Fitnah – Movement for Women’s Liberation, One Law for All and the Council of Ex-Musl ...

PZ Myers Paul Zachary Myers (born March 9, 1957) is an American biologist who founded and writes the '' Pharyngula'' science blog. He is associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM)

Avijit Roy Avijit Roy (; 12 September 1972 – 26 February 2015) was a Bangladeshi-American engineer, online activist, writer, and blogger known for creating and administrating the Mukto-Mona, an Internet blogging community for Bangladeshi freethinkers, ...

, Abu Ahammad,

Ajoy Roy Ajoy Roy (1 March 1935 – 9 December 2019) was a Bangladeshi professor of physics at the University of Dhaka, but was best known for his prominent role in Bangladesh's human rights activism and freethinking. He was one of the eminent educationi ...

Qayyum Chowdhury Qayyum Chowdhury (9 March 1932 – 30 November 2014) was a Bangladeshi painter. Along with Zainul Abedin, Quamrul Hassan and Safiuddin Ahmed, he is considered as a first generation artist of Bangladesh. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 198 ...

, Ramendu Majumdar and

Muhammad Zafar Iqbal Muhammed Zafar Iqbal (; ; born 23 December 1952) is a Bangladeshi science fiction author, physicist, academic, activist, former professor of computer science and engineering, and former head of the department of Electrical and Electronic Enginee ...

, an author and atheist, used to criticise rising

religious fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...

and government inaction in her newspaper columns and books. In early 1992, mobs began attacking bookstores stocking her work. The same year she was assaulted at a book fair and her passport was confiscated. In July 1993, her novel ''

Lajja Lajja may refer to: * ''Lajja'' (novel), a 1993 novel by Taslima Nasrin * ''Lajja'' (film), a 2001 Indian Hindi-language social drama film * ''Lajja'' (TV series), an Indian television series * Lajja Goswami (born 1988), Indian sport shooter * ...

'' was banned by the government which said it created misunderstanding among the communities. On 23 September 1993, a

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

was issued for her death. After international pressure, her passport was returned in April 1994. She travelled to France and returned via India. On 4 July 1994, an arrest warrant was issued for hurting religious feelings and Nasrin went underground. On 3 August, she was granted bail, but she fled to Sweden and remained in exile. In 1998, she visited her critically ill mother in Bangladesh. In 2005, she moved to India and applied for citizenship. In 2003, Bangladeshi author

Humayun Azad Humayun Azad (28 April 1947 – 12 August 2004) was a Bangladeshi poet, novelist, short-story writer, critic, linguist, columnist and professor of Dhaka University. He wrote more than 70 titles. He was awarded the Bangla Academy Literary Aw ...

wrote a book about an

Islamic fundamentalist Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

group

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh ("Assembly of Mujahideen–Bangladesh", abbreviated: JMB; ) is an Islamist militant terrorist organisation operating in Terrorism in Bangladesh, Bangladesh. It is listed as a terror group by Bangladesh, terrorism i ...

collaborating with the Pakistani army during the 1971

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

. Azad received numerous death threats from fundamentalists until his death the next year. In May 2015, Humayun Azad's son, blogger Ananya Azad, was repeatedly threatened with death after publishing critiques of Islamist fundamentalism. He was subsequently forced into exile in Europe. On 15 January 2013,

Asif Mohiuddin Asif Mohiuddin (born 24 February 1984) is a Bangladeshi atheist and secular activist, religious critic and feminist. In 2012, he won The Bobs-Best of Online Activism award from Deutsche Welle, who stated that "Asif's blog was one of the most r ...

, an atheist blogger (rational, gentle and Anti-Islamist), was stabbed near his office in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

. He survived the attack. On 15 February 2013,

Ahmed Rajib Haider Ahmed Rajib Haider (died 15 February 2013) was a Bangladeshi atheist blogger. He used to blog in the blogging communities namely somewhereinblog.net, amarblog.com and nagorikblog.com and used the pseudonym Thaba Baba. On 15 February 2013, after ...

, a prominent anti-Islamist blogger, was found murdered by a machete outside his Dhaka home. Mohiuddin, a winner of the BOBs award for online activism, was on an Islamist hit list that also included the murdered sociology professor Shafiul Islam. On the night of 7 March 2013, an atheist blogger Sunnyur Rahaman was attacked by two men who swooped on him and hacked him with machetes while shouting "

Allahu Akbar Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), although the term was used in pre-Islamic Arabia ...

". He came under attack around 9:00 pm near Purabi Cinema Hall in Mirpur. With the support of local police he was rushed to

Dhaka Medical College and Hospital Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) is a public university, public medical school, medical college and hospital located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1946, the college houses a medical school as well as a Tertiary referral hospital, ...

with wounds in his head, neck, right leg and left hand. On 26 February 2015,

, the founder of the Mukto-Mona blog, and his wife were attacked in Dhaka with machete-wielding assailants. Roy died on his way to the hospital. His wife was also seriously injured and lost a finger. On 30 March 2015, blogger Washiqur Rahman was killed in a similar attack in Dhaka. The police arrested two suspects near the scene and recovered

meat cleaver A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed tomahawk. It is largely used as a kitchen knife, kitchen or butcher knife and is mostly intended for splitting up large pieces of soft bones and slas ...

s from them. The suspects said they killed Rahman due to his anti-Islamic articles. On 12 March 2015, another blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was attacked and murdered by masked men wielding machetes. Ananta Bijoy Das was the editor of the science magazine ''Jukti''.

List of prominent irreligious Bangladeshis

{{columns-list, colwidth=20em, *

Lalon Lalon (; died 17 October 1890), also known as Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir, Shahji, was a Bengali spiritual leader, philosopher, mystic poet and social reformer. Regarded as an icon of Bengali culture, he inspired and influenced many philosophers, ...

Aroj Ali Matubbar Indian Philosopher Aroj Ali Matubbar (; 17 December 1900 – 15 March 1985) was a self-taught Bangladeshi philosopher, humanist and rationalist. He is known for his critical perspectives on religion, superstition, and traditional beliefs, which ...

* Ananta Bijoy Das * Daud Haider *

Ahmed Sharif Ahmed Sharif (13 February 1921 – 24 February 1999) was an educationist, philosopher, critic, writer and scholar of medieval Bengali literature. He is recognized as one of the most outspoken atheists and radical thinkers of Bangladesh. Bac ...

* Asad Noor * Bonya Ahmed *

Rashed Khan Menon Rashed Khan Menon (born 18 May 1943) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is the president of Workers Party of Bangladesh and a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Barisal-2, Dhaka-8 and Bakerganj-9 constituencies. He was the chairman of ...

Shahriar Kabir Shahriar Kabir (; born 20 November 1950) is a Bangladeshi journalist, filmmaker, human rights activist, war crimes researcher and author of more than 70 books focusing on human rights, communalism, fundamentalism, history, and the Bangladesh ...

* Abdul Latif * Shomon Robie * Mohammad Al Mamur

References

{{Reflist, 30em {{Religion in Bangladesh topics {{Asia topic, Irreligion in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Religion in Bangladesh Persecution by Muslims Attacks on secularists in Bangladesh Islamism in Bangladesh Irreligion in Bangladesh

Persecution of irreligious people

List of prominent irreligious Bangladeshis

See also

References