Bangladesh became independent as a result of the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971. Before and after 1971 the Penal Code of 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code 1989, and the Evidence Act of 1872 formed the statutory basis of the criminal law of Bangladesh. The government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman enacted a constitution in 1972 that proclaimed secularism as one of the founding principles of state policy. Yet in subsequent years of military rule from 1975 to 1990 constitutional amendments revived religious-based parties and eliminated secul…