Management warns of strict action against Islami Bank officials observing pen-down strike

Officials at various branches of Islami Bank Bangladesh
observed a one-hour pen-down strike today (4 June) following a call from an
agitating customers' forum, prompting bank management to issue strong warnings
of disciplinary action against non-compliant staff.
The internal disruption occurred
amid escalating street demonstrations demanding the immediate resignation of
Islami Bank's newly appointed Chairman Md Khurshid Alam.
Speaking to reporters at the bank's
head office, Acting Managing Director Altaf Hussain stated that the management
had issued no directives or approvals for an operational stoppage.
He warned that strict administrative action would be taken against any employee
who refused to render services to customers.
While branch officials largely
declined to give direct statements to the media, visits and eyewitness accounts
confirmed that customer services were visibly halted in several branches in
Dhaka as officers responded to the strike call, claiming that the strike is
being observed nationwide.
Hussain downplayed the internal
scale of the strike, asserting that bank officers remained prepared to serve
the public, though he admitted it was impossible to track the exact real-time
situation across every individual branch from the central headquarters.
Potential liquidity crisis
The ongoing agitation has triggered
a noticeable rise in fund withdrawals, raising concerns over a potential
liquidity crisis for Islami Bank.
When questioned by journalists
about the bank's survival if panic-stricken customers chose to withdraw all
their deposits simultaneously, the acting managing director acknowledged that
any banking institution would face immediate closure if its entire deposit base
was pulled out in a single day.
Hussain emphasised, however, "such extreme scenarios
do not occur in reality".
He conceded that the ongoing
movement and uncertainty had generated heightened cash withdrawal pressures
compared to normal periods, but maintained that the "withdrawal volume
currently remains within a manageable threshold".
Hussain concluded that there is no
reason for depositors to panic, noting that the situation has not escalated to
an alarming level, otherwise it would have been known to the public.
String of demos
The symbolic work stoppage follows
a string of intense street demonstrations.
Yesterday, the "Islami Bank
Sacheton Grahok Forum" staged a large-scale demonstration in the capital,
marching through the city to demand the chairman's exit and urging bank
employees to join today's corporate strike.
The campaign entered its third
consecutive day as protesters initiated a procession from the bank's head
office premises toward the National Press Club before staging a sit-in in front
of the Secretariat.
Forum President Nurul Nabi Manik claimed that Islami Bank
Chairman Khurshid Alam had been appointed despite his previous removal by
Bangladesh Bank officials following the July Uprising due to his alleged
involvement in financial irregularities under the fallen Awami League regime.
Manik warned that maintaining such
leadership poses a severe threat to the stability of the institution, which
stands as one of the largest banks in Southeast Asia, and noted that its
collapse would have catastrophic repercussions for the national economy.
The customers' forum urged the
government to lawfully intervene and restore corporate governance by
reinstating experienced managerial personnel who had previously contributed to
the bank's development.
















