\u201cThey have demanded it. Actually, we don’t have any plan to [bring in the law],\u201d Sheikh Hasina told BBC in an interview on Monday, April 8.
\u201cWe don’t need it. They should know that existing laws are enough.\u201d
Hasina\u2019s comments came just days after hundreds of thousands of supporters of an umbrella organization of Islamists held a massive rally in Dhaka.
In the protest held last Saturday, Islamists led by the Hefajat-e-Islam organization converged on Dhaka’s main commercial hub to protest against latest writings by atheist bloggers, said to insult Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Marching to Dhaka’s Motijheel commercial area, protesters called for a new blasphemy law, with the provision of the death penalty to punish those who insult Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
As part of their push for a change in the law, the Hefajat-e-Islam organisation on Monday forced the closure of schools and businesses across the country as part of a general strike.
Television reports said scores of people had been injured in clashes between pro-government activists and Islamists, already infuriated by the recent convictions of leading opposition figures for war crimes.
Leading a secular government in the Muslim-majority country since 2009, Hasina said existing laws were adequate to prosecute anyone accused of insulting a religion.
\u201cThis country is a secular democracy. So each and every religion has the right to practice their religion freely and fair,\u201d she said
\u201cBut it is not fair to hurt anybody’s religious feeling. Always we try to protect every religious sentiment.\u201d
Tension has gripped Bangladesh in recent weeks over postings by bloggers seen as insulting Islam.
Troubles agitated after the death of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider who was hacked to death near his home in the capital Dhaka.
Dozens of people including Islamists died and hundreds were injured as violence that rocked the country after police forces clashed with thousands of protesters from Islamist parties.<\/p>\n