Islami Bank employees block Chattogram highway for almost an hour

Employees of Islami Bank have staged a blockade on the Dhaka–Chattogram Highway at Faujdarhat, halting traffic for nearly an hour in protest against the bank's “special competency evaluation” programme.

Around 11am on Saturday, they formed a human chain near the Faujdarhat Police Outpost on the highway, raising several demands, including changes to employment practices.

Witnesses said that around 12pm, over a thousand male and female Islami Bank employees sat down on the highway and began chanting slogans, bringing traffic on both sides of the highway to a standstill and causing long tailbacks.

The protest followed a press conference at the Chattogram Press Club on Friday, where the employees had announced an indefinite work stoppage.

On Saturday morning, they took to the highway as part of that programme, according to bdnews24.com.

Around 12:45pm, police held talks with the demonstrators, after which the blockade was lifted and traffic gradually returned to normal.

Bar Aulia Highway Police chief Abdul Momin said the protesters cleared the highway after they were assured that their demands would be conveyed to the authorities.

The protesters’ demands include the reinstatement of dismissed officials, an end to punitive transfers of those involved in the movement, a discrimination-free work environment, and a proper investigation into the “mental and physical harassment” of Chattogram-based officials. They also demanded accountability for those responsible.

At Friday’s press conference, Islami Bank officials expressed fears of dismissal under the current management. They raised five specific demands and declared that the work stoppage would continue until those demands were met.

Branding the current Islami Bank management board “illegal”, protest leader SM Emdad Hossain alleged that employees from Chattogram were being subjected to discrimination. He claimed that more than 300 officials had already been dismissed, while over 5,200 had been made officers on special duty (OSD) or subjected to punitive transfers.

Emdad further alleged that the bank authorities had shut down employees’ user IDs, staff accounts, and bank accounts. Even after the 25th of the month, when salaries were disbursed, none of them were able to withdraw their pay.

Following a shift in the country’s political landscape, Islami Bank was freed from the control of the controversial S Alam Group. During the group’s tenure, it was alleged that around 10,000 people were recruited without any formal exam or vetting, but on the basis of verbal orders.

This swelled the bank’s workforce to 22,000, up from 13,500 in 2016. On Sept 27 this year, 5,385 of those verbally recruited employees were called to take part in the competency evaluation exam.

Many bank employees allege that under the guise of the “special competency evaluation”, there is a plan to dismiss several thousand of their colleagues from their jobs.