didn't hear the news about the hangings in the night until later in the day Thursday. the newspaper didn't come on time in the morning (and when we got it, it was a 2nd edition). did see mild protests in the streets. the article in the NYTimes doesn't mention that the head of the country who was assassinated in 1975 was the current prime minister's father.
and in an article about honor killings:
"The news from Bangladesh is that a teenage girl was recently punished with 101 lashes after she was raped and impregnated. Village elders apparently decide such matters in rural Bangladesh where Sharia law prevails. The girl's family quickly married her off but when the pregnancy emerged her husband demanded a divorce and reparations. So the elders issued a series of fatwas against the girl's family, fining the father and expelling the family from the village. Oh, and they pardoned the rapist."
sigh. Sharia Law does not prevail in most of Bangladesh, and, in fact, several political parties have recently had their charters revoked based on their demands for more rigid implementation of Islamic laws. but the rural areas are apparently quite different. learning every day.
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Your news really surprised me. I had read in your "Lonely Planet" book that Bangladesh is secular and that that is one of the major differences between it and Pakistan, where the religious factions have more power.
ReplyDeleteomg, Kris ~ I hate to sound like a student when I say "I didn't know this stuff still happened" because I guess I did *know* . . . but not so close to me (via you).
ReplyDeleteeek.