“Religion is a weapon and a victim of the conflict in Ukraine”

This Interview with ICLRS Visiting Fellow Dmytro Vovk, Director of the Center for Rule of Law and Religion Studies at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Kharkiv, Ukraine , is reproduced here with the permission of IVERIS (Institute de Veille et d’Études des Relations Internationales et Stratiques) and interviewer Bruno Husquinet .  Dr. Vovk is the co-editor with Elizabeth Clark of  Religion during Russian-Ukrainian Conflict (Routledge 2019).  He was a member of the Inaugural Class of the ICLRS Young Scholars Fellowship on Religion and the Rule of Law, which took place in summer 2018 in Oxford.  (more…)

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A Peace Cross on Public Property: A Violation of Establishment?

"On Feb. 27, the Supreme Court [heard] arguments about the constitutionality of the 40-foot Peace Cross on government property in Bladensburg, Md., a memorial for local fallen World War I soldiers. Many Americans might see a…

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Bangladesh: Do We Need a Ministry for Religious Minorities?

This guest post is by Farzana Mahmood, Barrister,  Executive Director, Bangladesh Manobadhikar o Poribesh Andolon. She was a member of the Inaugural Class of the ICLRS Young Scholars Fellowship on Religion and the Rule of Law, held in Oxford (2018). 

Bangladesh is a multi religious country where the Muslim population is officially estimated at around 90.5 per cent, Hindus 8.5 per cent, followed by Buddhists (0.6 per cent) and Christians (0.3 per cent) and others (0.1 per cent). The Constitution protects the equal status of all religion, ensures equal rights of every citizen irrespective of his religious identity, affirms secularism to ensure non-discrimination on the basis of religion and ensures freedom to practice any religion.

The bitter experience under the disguise of religion during the partition of the subcontinent, the regime of Pakistan and finally in the Liberation war of 1971, encouraged the Constitution makers and the people of Bangladesh to stay firm with principles of secularism and freedom of religion. Maulana Abdur Rashid Tarkobagish on 30th October 1972 gave his observations on secularism in the Parliamentary Assembly debate (Parishad Bitorko) and stated that under the name of Islam the barbaric Pakistani soldiers mercilessly killed Bengalees on 25th March of 1971 (Speech on introduction of constitution Bill. Source- minutes of the first meeting of the second session of National Assembly October, 1972, Parishad Bitorko (Assembly Debate), Dhaka: GOB).

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