Bangladesh moves to become a secular republic

In a further move towards becoming a secular democracy, rather than an Islamic republic, a Bangladesh court has ruled that people cannot be forced to wear skull caps, veils or other religious clothing in workplaces, schools and colleges.

The ruling followed reports that a college in the north of the country had forced students to wear veils. The court said that wearing any form of religious clothing, for students and employees, should be a personal choice. It also ruled that women cannot be prevented from taking part in sports or cultural activities.

In April this year, the court ordered schools and colleges not to force women to wear the burqa, a garment that covers the entire body except the eyes and hands.

Mahbub Shafique, one of the lawyers who filed the latest litigation, told the BBC how this ruling goes a step further. "The difference between these two is that, this particular ruling today doesn't apply only on females it also applies to males as well. Because any kind of religious attire is imposed, that has been declared illegal to some extent."

But the fact that the court needs to repeatedly reinforce these rulings indicates that they are not being observed outside the capital, Dhaka. The majority of the population of Bangladesh is Muslim.