Bangladesh Court Throws Out Petition Seeking To End Islam As State Religion

As reported by Voice of America, yesterday a 3-judge panel of Bangladesh's High Court rejected on procedural grounds a controversial petition filed 28-years ago seeking to eliminate the designation of Islam as the country's state religion.  Petitioners argued that recognition of Islam-- practiced by 90% of the population-- as the state religion is inconsistent with the country's secular constitution and discriminates against religious minorities. As soon as the case opened in court yesterday, the judges ruled that because the secular group filing it never registered with authorities, it has no right to file a petition.