The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) held a public, on-the-record forum last week on "The Bangladesh Elections: Promoting Democracy and Protecting Rights in a Muslim-majority Country."
In the forum the members of the commission narrated their experience in Bangladesh and said that although Bangladesh is one of the few functioning moderate democracies in Muslim World, they also noted with concern that democracy was in peril in Bangladesh because of religious militancy, chronic political violence and growing intolerance toward those within the majority community who hold differing views about Islam and the role of Islam in Bangladeshi society.
The forum coincided with the release of the Commission's latest publication Policy Focus on Bangladesh, which includes recommendations for US policy to advance respect for human rights in the world's third largest Muslim-majority country.
