BDDesk News,
“We can’t withdraw our deposited money, and there has been no profit for two years. We are forced to borrow money to run our households.” Angry depositors of the merged Islamic banks expressed their frustration. They demanded the resumption of ‘hetorakat’ (a specific banking practice), full trust deposits, and profits, as well as the restoration of regular banking operations in Rajshahi. On Tuesday (May 10), the Bangladesh Bank Depositors’ Association, Rajshahi Division, organized a human chain in front of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry building in the city’s Alokar area to press their demands.
The depositors said they have been suffering since the merger of First Security Islamic Bank (FSIBL), Global Islamic Bank (GIB), Social Islamic Bank Limited (SIBBL), Exim Bank, and Union Bank to form a consolidated Islamic bank.
Their allegation is that, in addition to various restrictions on the withdrawal of trust money, a process called ‘haircut’ has been decided, which involves cutting a specific portion of the accumulated funds. This is considered inhumane and discriminatory for the depositors.
Speaking at the event were Nooshin Jahan, Md. Apel Mahmud, Tahmidul Haque, Md. Foysal Kabir, Masud Rana and customers from various banks.
They said many families had deposited their land sale proceeds, remittances from abroad, pension funds, or business savings in banks. Their day-to-day expenses, including children’s education and medical treatment, depended on the interest from this money. However, over the past two years, many families have fallen into financial distress as they have been unable to withdraw their money naturally.
Speakers alleged that if the proposal to cap profit distribution at just 4 percent government patronage for the last two years is implemented as decided by the former governor of Bangladesh Bank, millions of depositors will be harmed. They claimed that nearly 75 million customers from around three crore families in the country are affected by this crisis.
Depositor-customers have made four demands, including: the cancellation of the ‘haircut’ and full refund of entrusted money as per the agreement; maintaining normal transactions like other scheduled banks; full repayment of money in FD, DPS, and MTDRA, including profit; and withdrawing the declared 9 to 9.5 percent interest rate for 2026.
Speakers also said that with the upcoming Eid al-Adha, many families will face extreme hardship if they cannot withdraw their own money. They warned that if claims are not settled quickly, severe measures will be taken, such as locking down bank branches and restricting managers, similar to what happened in Chittagong, in Rajshahi as well.
After the human chain, a memorandum was submitted to the Exim Bank administrator. The program ended peacefully afterward.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report