[1][2] Despite its state religion, Bangladesh uses a secular penal code dating from 1860—the time of the British occupation.
Government officials, police, soldiers, and security forces may have discouraged blasphemy by extrajudicial actions including torture.
[7] Under Section 295A of Bangladesh's Penal Code (1860), any person who has a "deliberate" or "malicious" intention of "hurting religious sentiments" is liable to imprisonment.
[4] Under clauses 99(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) of The Code of Criminal Procedure, "the government may confiscate all copies of a newspaper if it publishes anything subversive of the state or provoking an uprising or anything that creates enmity and hatred among the citizens or denigrates religious beliefs.
[4] In 1993, Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Jamaat i Islami—the largest Bangladeshi Islamic party, tabled in Parliament a "blasphemy bill."