Sacked employees of Islami Bank seek reinstatement, warn of 'peaceful' protests

Highlights:

• Dismissed Islami Bank employees demand reinstatement, payment of outstanding dues.
• Employees allege they were terminated without notice or a chance to defend themselves.
• They warn of a nationwide "peaceful protest" if their demands remain unmet.

A group of dismissed employees of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC today (30 July) demanded reinstatement, alleging that nearly 10,000 employees were terminated without notice or an opportunity to defend themselves following the political transition on 5 August 2024.

Speaking at a press conference organised under the banner "Chakrichutto Mojlum Bankers" at the Chattogram Press Club, they also demanded payment of outstanding salaries and bonuses, and an end to "defamatory campaigns" questioning their professional qualifications.

The terminated employees alleged that despite being recruited through a lawful, merit-based process during the tenure of the Awami League government, they were dismissed en masse after the political transition on 5 August 2024 through a joint decision by the bank's management and the interim government, without receiving show-cause notices or being given an opportunity to defend themselves.

They further alleged that the bank's special competency assessment was used as a pretext to remove employees rather than to assess their professional competence.

According to the speakers, many officers did not take part in the assessment after the High Court issued directives in connection with a writ petition. They claimed their absence from the assessment was later cited as grounds for termination.

The speakers said many of those dismissed have since exceeded the age limit for recruitment elsewhere and are now facing severe financial hardship.

Naimul Islam, a former officer of the bank's professional batch, said all recruits had been selected through written and oral examinations conducted under the supervision of the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka.

"We secured our jobs after passing written and oral examinations under IBA's supervision. We have preserved all official documents, including admission cards, examination results, appointment letters and promotion records. There is no basis to question either our qualifications or the legitimacy of our recruitment," he added.

Naimul also said candidates for the professional officer position were required to obtain first-class results in four public examinations and later completed several professional diploma programmes under the supervision of Bangladesh Bank and the bank's training academy.

Another dismissed employee, Aparna Dutta, said she lost her husband just a day after losing her job and has since been struggling to raise their two children amid severe financial hardship.

She also alleged that employees were selectively dismissed based on their alleged political affiliations, regional identity or group associations, calling it discriminatory and a violation of their fundamental rights.

The dismissed employees said they had already submitted a memorandum to the government seeking reinstatement and payment of their outstanding dues.

They warned that unless the government takes swift steps to reinstate the dismissed employees and settle their outstanding salaries and benefits, they would launch a broader "peaceful" movement involving affected employees from across the country.