The Islami Bank Shareholders Forum held a human chain and rally in front of the Islami Bank Tower in Dilkusha, Dilkusha, in the capital, on Monday, October 6, 2025, demanding the removal of incompetent officials and employees illegally appointed by S Alam, who looted the banking sector’s money. At the same time, the Islami Bank Customers Forum held a human chain and protest rally in front of every branch of the Islamic Bank across the country demanding the immediate dismissal of the officials and employees illegally appointed by S Alam from the Islamic Bank. The speakers at the rally called for the removal of the illegally appointed employees from the Islamic Bank as soon as possible. Shareholders and customers said that if these illegal officials are not removed by next Thursday, they will start a larger movement, reports BSS.
Md. Mohtashim Billah, Hafizur Rahman, Imam Hossain, Mahmudul Hasan, ATM Sirajul Haque, Dr. Harunur Rashid, Md. Mustafizur Rahman and Md. Ratan, among others, spoke at the rally held in front of the head office.
At this time, the Islamic Bank Customer Forum, the Conscious Business Forum, the Islamic Bank Former Bankers Council and the Anti-Discrimination Job Aspirants Council, the Conscious Professional Group, the Islamic Bank CBA and the Conscious Bankers Society joined the human chain and protest rally with the same demand.
The speakers at the rally said that S Alam used the state machinery to forcibly take over the Islamic Bank in 2017. He expelled the legitimate owners from the bank by threatening them. He also expelled the foreign shareholders by threatening them in various ways. He took control of the bank and earned a huge amount of money by making appointments as he wanted. He destroyed the excellent working environment and advanced customer service of the bank by hiring people from Patiya and Chittagong without any advertisement.
The speakers said that the Islamic Bank has kept these officials in service for so long by showing humanity. The bank itself has suffered. Every year, more than 1500 crore taka is being spent on these illegal officials. The Islamic Bank had organized a competency assessment test to make them legitimate. They have taken a stand against the bank by opposing the bank’s decision. This is a major rebellion against a corporate institution. There is no other legal way for the rebels to remain in the bank like this. The speakers urged the bank authorities to remove them quickly. They demanded that honest and qualified candidates be appointed from all over the country through a merit check.
They also said that the removal of illegal appointees cannot be called a violation of human rights in any way. The human rights of the common people of the country were violated by depriving the people of 63 districts and giving jobs to only the people of Patiya and Chittagong by setting up boxes in the dark of night. By removing the illegal officials, the shareholders and customers of this bank will protect Islami Bank from the hands of the mafia at any cost.
The speakers at the rally said that after taking over S Alam Islami Bank from 2017 to August 2024, he illegally appointed 7224 people from Chittagong alone in various ranks. Out of these, more than 4500 people are from Patiya upazila alone. The bank’s discipline has been severely destroyed by depriving job seekers from all over the country and secretly appointing candidates from one district.
They said that S Alam took up the program of expelling the old employees of the bank from the bank and appointing people from his own upazila. From March 2024 to July 2024, more than 150 bank officials sent employees to compulsory retirement and dismissed them by threatening them with various means.
A driver named Nurul Haque said that a representative of the then HR called me and said, “You submit your resignation. Otherwise, you will be deprived of service benefits.” I was forced to submit my resignation. In this way, pressure was repeatedly exerted. Like me, Khalil, Abdur Rahman, Abdul Momin and Delwar were also forced to submit their resignations. He said that in this way, several hundred lower-ranking employees including drivers, messengers and cleaners and several other officials and executives were forcibly sent to retirement. We all had five more years of service left. S Alam’s PS Akij Uddin did this to recruit people from Patiya Upazila, he said.
An executive who did not want to be named said, according to S Alam, several senior executives of the bank were arrested for not signing the fake investment file. They were handcuffed and presented in front of the media as criminals. Later, they were fired.
It is worth noting that the bank organized an evaluation test through the IBA of Dhaka University on September 27 to evaluate the qualifications and skills of these illegally recruited officers. These officers refused to take the evaluation test. On September 27, 5385 of these officers were asked to participate in the evaluation test. A large part of them, i.e. 4971, refrained from participating in the test, disobeying the bank’s decision. Out of these, 414 officers participated in the evaluation test.
The bank made OSDs of those who did not participate in the test and dismissed 400 rebels. They were ordered to refrain from operational activities until further orders.
