IBL customers form human chain against S. Alam’s appointees
Staff Reporter:
The Islami Bank Customer Forum staged a human chain demonstration on Sunday, calling for the cancellation of what they described as “illegal appointments” made during the period when the bank was under the control of the S. Alam Group. The protesters also condemned what they termed the group’s “monopolistic dominance” over the country’s banking sector.
The demonstration took place in front of Islami Bank Tower in the city’s Dilkusha commercial area. Participants demanded the annulment of questionable appointments made in the bank’s Chittagong branches between 2017 and 2024, allegedly under the S. Alam Group’s influence, which held the bank’s controlling stake during that time.
Speakers at the event urged the bank’s authorities to ensure recruitment of honest, qualified, and merit-based candidates from across the country.
Business leaders including Shahin Ahmed Khan, Md Motasim Billah, Md Delwar Hossain, Md Imam Hossain, Advocate Waliullah, Hafizur Rahman, and DM Shawkat Ali addressed the gathering.
At the same time, the Conscious Professionals Group, Islami Bank CBA, and the Conscious Bankers Society organized parallel human chains and protest programmes voicing identical demands.
Speakers alleged that after the S. Alam Group took over Islami Bank, it unlawfully recruited around 8,340 individuals between 2017 and August 2024, mostly from the Chittagong region. They claimed that over 4,500 of these recruits hailed from Patiya Upazila alone.
They further alleged that favouring candidates from a single district while overlooking applicants from the remaining 63 districts has severely undermined the bank’s service quality and administrative discipline.
“Many of these recruits lack professionalism, struggle to provide quality service, and often use regional dialects, creating communication barriers with customers,” said one of the speakers, adding that such practices were untenable for a national institution.
The speakers demanded the immediate cancellation of these alleged illegal appointments and called for a transparent, merit-based hiring process nationwide.
The protestors also referred to a recent step taken by Islami Bank to assess the qualifications of the disputed appointees. On September 27, the bank arranged an evaluation test through the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University. Although 5,385 officials were summoned, only 414 reportedly attended.
Following the large-scale absence, the bank reportedly placed 4,971 officials on Officer on Special Duty (OSD) status, and around 400 of them have already been terminated. Those placed on OSD were instructed to refrain from all banking activities until further notice.
Speakers warned that unless the “bank looter S. Alam” and his “unqualified recruits” are removed, customers will gradually withdraw their confidence and deposits from Islami Bank.