A/HRC/31/18/Add.2 14. The majority of Muslims in Bangladesh follow the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam, while Jafa’ari Shias, Ismaelis and Ahmadis constitute different branches of inner-Islamic minorities, which are rather small. Likewise, Christians also comprise different denominations, in particular Catholics, Anglicans and various forms of Protestantism, such as Baptism. The picture would be incomplete without agnostics and atheists who also live in Bangladesh. 15. The Special Rapporteur heard much about the many religious festivals in the country that are jointly celebrated by people of different religious backgrounds by going to the parade, sharing food with neighbours and giving sweets to children. This illustrates that people not only live side by side, but also try to get to know about and respect each other’s religion. 16. During his visit to an Islamic school in a Hindu neighbourhood, the Hindus happened to be celebrating a festival honouring Krishna’s birthday. The Special Rapporteur heard the Hindu music played in the background, in which Krishna’s flute was very noticeable, while at the same time Muslim students played in their schoolyard or studied in their classrooms. He takes this as an example of the relaxed atmosphere of interreligious coexistence, which generally prevails in the country. 17. Obviously, religious pluralism is deeply rooted in Bangladesh and the subcontinent. Some interlocutors attributed this to a long tradition traceable to the Moghul Emperor Akhbar, if not even much further back in history. Others mentioned the positive role of Sufism in shaping the country’s open religious atmosphere. Religious intolerance and extremism, although seemingly on the rise, is generally not seen as fitting into the predominant culture in Bangladesh of harmonious interreligious coexistence. While the threat of Islamic extremism cannot be denied, the typical interpretation is that this has not much to do with religion itself but rather originates from an “abuse” of religion for political gains. B. Changes of the religious demography 18. The religious demography in Bangladesh has changed considerably in recent decades, mostly as a result of migration. When the demography changes rapidly, this can pose some challenges to the religious harmony in the country. This risk is even higher, if certain minorities feel vulnerable and insecure. 19. Most salient is the declining number of Hindus in the country. Whereas at the time of the independence of Bangladesh, in 1971, the Hindu population amounted to approximately 23 per cent of the country’s entire population, current estimates put that figure at around 9 per cent. Apparently, this drastic decline has much to do with contested property issues, which the Government has been trying to resolve (see paras. 26-32 below) as well as the experience of a general vulnerability through harassment and at times even physical attacks. 20. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where the religious landscape has distinctively differed from the rest of Bangladesh, demographic changes have been even more pronounced, not least as a result of government-induced population transfer in the past. Unlike a few decades ago, when the indigenous peoples living in that region — mostly following Buddhism and Christianity — constituted the vast majority, the numerical relationship between indigenous and Bengali populations has by now become more or less even. As a result of those changes, Islam has become quite visible, not least in the shape of many newly erected mosques and madrasas, while many Hindus have also migrated to the Chittagong Hill Tracts region, where they feel safer than in some other regions of Bangladesh. It should be noted that, in that region, ethnic and religious minority situations, 5