Equal rights for women

Not a controversial title for an article on a blog, well not in the UK, but in Bangladesh that would be another matter. Bangladesh has a secular system of law but a population that being 90% Muslim follows sharia law for matters related to inheritance and marriage. Now the military-backed government has backed down from a policy to ensure equal property rights to women amid angry protests by Muslim clerics that the move would override Islamic law. Sharia law as practised in Bangladesh means that a girl inherits half of what her brother gets.

Bangladesh's law minister, Hasan Arif, said that the government "does not have any plan to enact any laws that goes against the Koran and the traditions of Prophet Mohammad,". Arif gave the assurance to top Islamic clerics and scholars late on Tuesday, after Islamic groups warned of nationwide protests, saying they would not tolerate any law that went against sharia, the Islamic law code.