Management warns of strict action against Islami Bank officials observing pen-down strike
The ongoing agitation has triggered a noticeable rise in fund withdrawals, raising concerns over a potential liquidity crisis for Islami Bank as acting MD downplays the situation.
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.
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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.
