Sachetan Grahok Forum (Conscious Customers Forum) activists held a sit-in for the fifth consecutive day in front of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC’s head office in Motijheel, Dhaka, while employees dismissed from the bank staged a separate demonstration in front of Bangladesh Bank at the same time.
On Thursday (September 17) morning, around 10am, the Sachetan Grahok Forum brought out a protest march from in front of Islami Bank’s Dilkusha head office. The march went via Motijheel’s Shapla Chattar to Bangladesh Bank, before the group returned and took position again in front of Islami Bank’s head office, chanting various slogans.
Meanwhile, on the road in front of Bangladesh Bank, dismissed male and female Islami Bank officers and staff were seen holding umbrellas as they protested, demanding reinstatement under a one-point charter of demands. Security has been stepped up around Bangladesh Bank because of the demonstrations, and access to the central bank has been restricted. The dismissed employees had earlier staged a sit-in in front of the National Press Club on Wednesday.
Sachetan Grahok Forum secretary Mutasim Billah said a full board of directors needs to be formed quickly to restore stability at Islami Bank. The dismissed officers say they were removed from their jobs for various reasons during the interim government’s tenure, and their one-point demand is reinstatement.
The Islami Bank Sachetan Grahok Forum alleges that after S Alam Group took control of Islami Bank in 2017, the group recruited nearly 10,000 staff without any examination, and that many were hired without submitting original certificates. A subsequent re-evaluation initiative was launched, but most of the officers concerned did not sit the exam, and around 5,000 of them lost their jobs as a result.