THE INTRODUCTION OF RELIGION TO POLITICS AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK AND THE AFTERMATH: A CRITICAL OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF PRE AND POST BANGLADESH ERAS

Drawing from historical narratives of pre and post Bangladesh eras, the article shows how colonial rule, political parties and military rulers used religion and religious identity in public affairs, the constitution and politics, which eventually caused grave social disorder in the Undivided India and later independent Bangladesh. This article has two key arguments; firstly, political recognition of a religion(s) or preferential treatment of any religious group has never had a positive impact upon the countries Indian sub-continent (which includes Bangladesh). Secondly, based on the streamline of the first argument, the article further argues that since the preferential treatment of religion has repeatedly given rise to negative consequences, it is highly probable that declaring Islam as the state religion under the state religion clause is not advisable in the context of the secular constitutional framework and likewise, will work against, rather than encouraging, religious harmony.