IN AUGUST 1995 reports confirmed that the trial of the Bangladeshi writer, Taslima Nasrin, would go forward, despite the objections lodged by her lawyers and international human rights campaigners. Continued postponements of the trial, most recently in June, suggest great political uneasiness.

Taslima Nasrin is charged with the offence of 'insulting religious feelings', under Section 295A of the Bangladeshi Penal Code. The Bangladeshi government insists that this is not a blasphemy law, since it does not single out any particular religion for protection. However, the Bangladeshi political parties with extreme Islamic agendas have made serious efforts to introduce a new law of religious offences; a draft blasphemy bill was first tabled in the Bangladeshi parliament on 29 July 1992, by Maulana Mohd Nizami, the Secretary General of the Jamaat-i-Islam party. The bill proposes to add new sections to the existing law, which would punish desecration or defilement of the Koran by life imprisonment, and impose either life imprisonment or a death sentence for the defilement, spoken or written, of the name of the Prophet Mohammed.

The refusal to drop the charges against Taslima Nasrin, in this highly political case, is not an encouraging sign for the forces of moderation in Bangladesh. Informed observers fear that Bangladesh may soon follow Pakistan, which outraged world opinion in early 1995, when Salamat Masih, a 14-year-old Pakistan Christian, was tried and convicted under Pakistan's law of blasphemy.

The historical connection between Pakistan and Bangladesh encourages comparison between the two countries. It is less well known that, over the past few years, Iran and Bangladesh have formed increasingly close ties and an enhanced relationship has grown steadily in recent months. On 7 May 1995, Bangladesh repudiated the US trade embargo with Iran. This followed the landmark decision by the producers of 70 per cent of the world's tea to establish a seven-member consortium of tea producers, which includes Iran and Bangladesh. Iran is already the largest importer of Bangladeshi jute products with plans to increase this trade, and has also offered Bangladeshi transit facilities for direct trade with six central Asian republics.

The cultural and political impact of this relationship was summed up by Dr Ali Larijani, head of Iran radio and TV, who led the Iranian delegation which visited Bangladesh's President Biswas in July 1995 in order to finalise an agreement concerning the exchange of radio and TV programmes. Iran is known for its stringent censorship, and it is unlikely that this agreement heralds any liberalisation of its broadcasting policy. In fact, since April 22 1995, Iran has enforced a ban on the use of the Bangladeshi authorities to satellite communications. Dr Larijani did not highlight the strongly held Iranian view that the dishes are a force for subversive Western values but chose to emphasise that Bangladesh and Iran share a common religious faith, culture and history, and should work together for the welfare of the Islamic world.

Ali Larijani is extremely well connected. His brother Mohammed Javad Larijani is Chairman of the Iranian Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee. He is perhaps best known in the West for the inconsistencies of his comments on the persecuted author, Salman Rushdie. A sophisticated politician, he appears to adapt his words to his audience. On 13 June 1995, he told Swedish journalists: 'It is definitely a breach of international law if a country's government unilaterally condemns a citizen of another country to death', and added: 'A fatwa is an expression of opinion in a matter concerning religion or religious life. It is always a conditional assertion.' He also questioned the legality of the $2 million bounty offered by an Iranian charity for Salman Rushdie's life and stated: 'Personally, I consider it unforgivable to put a price on another person's head.'

However, following the 22 June meeting of the European Union representatives with the Iranian government, which was set up to confirm Iran's repudiation of the implementation of the fatwa, Mr Larijani, along with other Iranian officials, affirmed its continuing validity.

The world should be seriously concerned about the degree of political influence that may reinforce this growing web of cultural and commercial agreements. On 20 July 1995, Radio Bangladesh reported a meeting in Iran between the Bangladeshi special envoy, the Iranian Foreign Minister and other high ranking officials, to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries. This visit was returned last October, when Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani made a four-day state visit to Bangladesh, the first-ever Iranian head of state to visit the country. He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, Minister for Rural Development and Reconstruction Gholamreza Foruzesh, Commerce Minister Yahya Al-e-Eshaq, senior officials and a delegation of leading businessmen and media personnel.

The visit resulted in the signing of eight bilateral agreements ranging from cultural exchanges, a joint campaign against drug trafficking, environmental and agricultural accords, to joint investment and cooperation in petroleum, post, telecommunications and sea transportation aimed at boosting Tehran-Dhaka economic relations.

Significantly, at a Dhaka Press conference on 12 October, President Rafsanjani chose to comment on the Rushdie case. When asked about the Iranian death threat to the British writer, he said the decree was jurisdictionally consistent with the laws of Islam and that it was irrevocable; but added that his government had no plans for enforcing the fatwa. He opined that Western governments, and especially Britain, do better not to raise any further ballyhoo on that story, possibly a reference to the continuing pressure by the European Union that Iran provide a written undertaking of Mr Rushdie's safety.

In November, a series of meetings in Iran between Bangladeshi Finance Minister Saifur Rahman, President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Majlis Speaker Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri and Oil. Minister Gholamreza Aqazadeh, was described as 'a second Iran-Bangladeshi joint economic commission'. Aqazadeh announced that Iran was ready to engage in petroleum-related cooperation with Bangladesh and that a committee of Iranian and Bangladeshi experts would meet in Dhaka to consider the costs of establishing an oil refinery in Bangladesh. The deal was completed on 1 February this year, in Chittagong, and witnessed by President Rafsanjani and Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia.

These trends have been counterbalanced by a series of political crises which have beset Bangladesh during the past 18 months; the 10-month boycott of parliament by more than 140 members of the opposition, who also boycotted the elections in February this year; the re-election of Begum Zia and her Bangladeshi Nationalists by an electorate estimated at only 15 per cent of the population; and the widespread demonstrations and nation-wide strikes amidst allegations of political fraud, violence and fears of a military coup which led to President Biswas dissolving Parliament on 30 March. Most interesting is the fact that in the June elections which brought the centrist Awami League Party led by Sheikh Hasina to power, the Jamaat-e-Islami party held on to only three of 18 seats won during 1991.

The Centre for Analysis and Choice in Bangladesh claims this reversal for Islamic fundamentalism is due to an awareness campaign it runs, called 'Women in Politics'. This has highlighted the proliferation of fatwas by Muslim fundamentalists which have threatened Bangladeshi women, some of whom have been stoned to death or harassed into suicide.

Although only five women were elected to parliament, of 48 contesting seats, International Observers noted that, unusually, equal numbers of men and women cast ballots. 'If you want women to come out, it is time you start showing them the difference they can make,' Farah Kabir, a Centre spokesman told Reuters. 'We only said: "Do vote and analyse the candidate."'

In the light of these positive developments the forthcoming verdict on Taslima Nasrin, what ever it may be, will send a powerful signal to the international community about the future health of secular democracy in Bangladesh.