Bangladesh: Update to Response to Information Request BGD16839.E of 18 March 1994 on the treatment of homosexuals and the ritual of tawba
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1997 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | BGD27385.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Bangladesh: Update to Response to Information Request BGD16839.E of 18 March 1994 on the treatment of homosexuals and the ritual of tawba, 1 July 1997, BGD27385.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aab44.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on the treatment of homosexuals updating that found in Response to Information Request BGD16839.E of 18 March 1994 could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.
The following information may, however, be of general interest.
In April 1997 the government opened the country's first AIDS information and counselling centre (AFP 23 Apr. 1997).
Although homosexuality is forbidden under the constitution's "immorality clause," Agence France Presse (AFP) reports that recently the Daily Star, a Bangladeshi newspaper, "reported a large number of gay men meet at city parks after sunset" (ibid. 14 Feb. 1997). Additional information was not provided by either source.
According to the ILGA [International Lesbian and Gay Association] Annual Report 1996, Bangladesh has informal lesbian and gay organizations but no lesbian and gay press (1996, back page).
According to The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Arabic term tawba refers to repentance:
The messengers of God have, throughout history, been calling man back to God. Yet very few men have accepted the truth; most of them have rejected it and become disbelievers (kafir, plural kuffar: literally "ungrateful"i.e., to God), and when man becomes so obdurate, his heart is sealed by God. Nevertheless, it is always possible for a sinner to repent (tawbah) and redeem himself by a genuine conversion to the truth. There is no point of no return, and God is always willing and ready to pardon. Genuine repentance has the effect of removing all sins and restoring a person to the state of sinlessness with which he started his life (1985, 7).
E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam offers the following information on tawba:
repentance, originally meaning "return," is a verbal noun derived from taba; the verb is often used in the Kur'an, either absolutely or with ila, of one who turns to God with repentance, and also with 'ala of God, who turns with forgiveness to the penitent, for He is tawwab rahim, "very forgiving and merciful" (Kur'an, 11. 35sqq.). The validity of tawba depends on three things: 1. a conviction of sin, 2. remorse (nadam), 3. a firm resolution to abstain from sin in the future (Ghazzaalii, Ihya,' book iv. 21, 22; ix. 105; xlii. 24). If these conditions are fulfilled, God always accepts repentance, not from obligation (wadjab) as the Mu'tazilites hold, but in virtue of His eternal will; on the other hand "a deathbed repentance" is unavailing (Kur'an, iv, 22). Sin being an offence against God, tawba is indispensable for salvation, though Ahmad b. Hanbal and others deny this (Massignon, La Passion d'al-Hallaj, p. 666). The Sufis, rising above the legal notion of sin, attack a correspondingly higher significance to tawba. Amongst them the term denotes the spiritual conversion which is the necessary starting point for those entering on the Path (tarika) and which is represented as an act of divine grace. In its most proposed sense tawba is not so much an acknowledgement and renunciation of sin as a new orientation of the entire personality, so that the penitent is wholly turned towards God. Any recollection of sin or thought of remorse is wrong; for to remember sin is to forget God, and self-consciousness is the greatest sin of all: hence, according to a well-known Tradition, the Prophet sought forgiveness of God seventy times a day (1987, 704).
For additional information on tawba as understood in Sufism (Islamic mysticism), please consult the internet attachment entitled "Tawba (Sufism)" that was taken from the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 23 April 1997. Nadeem Qadir. "Bangladesh to Launch 36 Mln Dollar Anti-AIDS Campaign." (NEXIS)
_____. 14 February 1997. "Bangladeshi Police Officer Suspended for Sexually Assaulting Teenage Boy." (NEXIS)
E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam. 1987. Vol. 8. Edited by M.Th. Houtsma et al. Nicholson, R.A., "Tawba." Leiden: E.J. Brill.
ILGA Annual Report 1996. 1996. Brussels: IGLA.
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1985. 15th ed. Vol. 22. Edited by Philip W. Goetz. Macropaedia. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannic, Inc.
Attachments
Agence France Presse (AFP). 23 April 1997. Nadeem Qadir. "Bangladesh to Launch 36 Mln Dollar Anti-AIDS Campaign." (NEXIS)
_____. 14 February 1997. "Bangladeshi Police Officer Suspended for Sexually Assaulting Teenage Boy." (NEXIS)
Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential. n.d. "Tawba (Sufism)." [Internet] [Accessed 11 July 1997] ILGA Annual Report 1996. 1996. Brussels: IGLA, p. 10.
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International. January 1994. Violations of the Human Rights of Homosexuals: Extracts from Amnesty International's Action Materials.
Asylum Based on Sexual Orientation: A Resource Guide. 1996.
Bangladesh: A Country Study. 1989.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Dhaka. 1996. Statistical Pocketbook 1996.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Dhaka. 1995. Statistical Pocketbook 1995.
Coordinating Council of Human Rights in Bangladesh (CCHRB), Dhaka. 1996. State of Human Rights in Bangladesh 1996.
Coordinating Council of Human Rights in Bangladesh (CCHRB), Dhaka. 1995. State of Human Rights in Bangladesh 1995.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996. 1997.
DIRB "Bangladesh" country file. April 1996-present.
_____. "Bangladesh: Amnesty International" country file. June 1994-present.
_____. Indexed Media Review [Ottawa]. Weekly. July 1995-present.
The Encyclopedia of Religion. Various dates.
Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 1994-1995. 1995.
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. Various dates.
News from Asia Watch [New York]. Monthly. 1996-present.
Rippin, Andrew. 1990. Muslims: Their Religion, Beliefs and Practices. Volume 1: The Formative Period.
Sexuality and Eroticism Among Males in Moslem Societies. 1992.
Zakaria, Rafiq. 1988. The Struggle Within Islam: The Conflict Between Religion and Politcs.
On-line/database searches: NEXIS, SHARENet, World Wide Web.