As the number of Christians from a Muslim background is growing, they face restrictions and difficulties with radical Islamic groups, local religious leaders, and families. There are fatwas implemented all over the country, especially in rural areas, and demands to introduce Sharia (Islamic law) to show the country belongs to the “House of Islam”. Local government officials create various obstacles for Christians, but the rise in attacks claimed by the Islamic State group has been countered by security forces.

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Bangladesh PM says anyone who offends Islam will be prosecuted

Sheikh Hasina (Getty)

Bangladesh’s prime minister has pledged that anyone who offends Islam or its prophet will be prosecuted. Sheikh Hasina said the religion of Bangladesh “is Islam. Anyone who pronounces offensive comments against it, or against the Prophet Muhammad, will be prosecuted according to the law,” as reported by Asia News. Her […]

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Bangladesh’s religious minorities warned they may face ‘brunt’ of election violence

Christians protest following an attack by local thugs on a church last Saturday in which three men were injured and the building damaged. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Christians and other minorities in Bangladesh face a “daunting election” at the end of the year, warns the Bangladeshi Bureau Chief of Catholic news agency UCAN. “Elections and violence go hand-in-hand in Bangladesh and minorities often face the brunt of this amid a tug-of-war between political parties jockeying for power,” […]

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Bangladesh set to further ‘thwart’ freedom of expression

Traffic in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Bangladesh is considering the introduction of a new law that would further limit freedom of expression and belief in the country, a senior Bangladeshi journalist warns. The Digital Security Act, a draft of which has been approved by the government, will include a section that “criminalizes online content regarded as defamatory […]

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Bangladesh Catholics protest over church attack

Bangladesh Catholics protest over church attack

More than 200 Catholics have marched in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, in protest over last week’s attack on one of the country’s oldest churches, reports Asia News. Attackers broke into Canterbury St. Augustine church, also in Dhaka, early on 8 February, tied up and beat the parish priest and stole money […]

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Bangladesh: Catholic priest missing as Pope Francis arrives

Pope Francis hold hands with President of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid (L) upon arriving at the Presidential palace in Dhaka on 30 November 2017. (Photo: VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images)

Pope Francis has arrived in Bangladesh, where a Catholic priest disappeared three days ago, highlighting the pressure Christians and other minority groups are under in the mainly Muslim country. Father Walter William Rozario, who is also the headmaster of a high school, went missing in northern Natore district on 27 […]

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Bangladesh: 12 militants charged with Catholic’s murder

Street in the capital Dhaka, February 2016. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Police in Bangladesh’s northern Natore district have charged 12 militants with the murder of a Catholic shopkeeper in June last year. The charges followed a reported confession by a militant leader in custody, who is said to have admitted that members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, an organisation affiliated to the Islamic […]

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