Khwaja Shahriar, the chairman of the newly formed board of directors, has said that there was no irregularity or corruption in the bank during the tenure of Abdus Samad Labu, the former chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank (AIBL). He said this in a recent interview with a national daily.
Earlier, on September 3, the central bank dissolved the board of directors of Al-Arafah Islami Bank (AIBL) and appointed an independent board of directors over allegations of involvement with the S. Alam Group. However, the new board of directors did not find any investment in the name or name of the S. Alam Group after auditing the head office and branches.
In that interview, Khwaja Shahriar also said that there is no loan of the S. Alam Group in this bank. Compared to other banks, Al-Arafah is an exception in this regard.
Customers, officials and employees of the bank said that good governance was maintained in the bank during the tenure of former chairman Abdus Samad Labu. Currently, since the formation of the new board of directors, bank officials and employees have been subjected to various forms of harassment. Many officials have been dismissed without notice even though there are no allegations of irregularities or corruption in the bank personally. Many officials are being harassed by being made OSDs in human resources and various zonal offices without any reason just by looking at the employer's reference. Executives and officials of various branches and departments are being forced to resign on the pretext of receiving orders from the Governor of Bangladesh Bank. They are being threatened that they will be dismissed if they do not resign.
Recently, panic has spread among bank officials due to transfers from Chattogram to various distant branches and zones including Dhaka, Rajshahi, Khulna, Bogura, Sylhet. Even officials in their forties and fifties have to run to different parts of the country with transfer orders.
A pregnant female officer who was transferred expressed her anger, saying, 'I have not committed any irregularities in my career. How can I go from Chattogram to Sylhet and work in this condition of my health? If the human resources department cannot be humane, who will we go to?'
In this situation, they expect that the Bangladesh Bank nominated board will return the responsibility of managing the bank to the previous board led by Abdus Samad Labu after the interim responsibility entrusted to them. The current chairman of the board of directors has been forced to admit, 'The second largest Islamic bank in the country is Al-Arafah Islami Bank. That means that this bank already has a very good position in the country. This bank already had fairly good governance. It has been strengthened further.'
It is known that prominent industrialist Alhaj Abdus Samad Labu was elected as the chairman of the bank in three terms by direct vote of the directors of the board of directors. During his tenure, he gave full independence to the management committee in managing the bank. In order to strengthen the internal control of the bank, he made the audit department a stronger department than in the past and provided it with sufficient independence, so that the real picture of the bank emerges. He did not interfere in the normal activities of any department or branch. Rather, during his time, the bank has become a much stronger and more sustainable bank. Due to timely promotions, increments, and bonuses, he is widely popular among the bank's executives, officers, and employees. The bank's corporate and retail customers are also satisfied with the bank's activities during the former chairman's tenure.
After the mass uprising of students and the people on August 5, the newly appointed Governor of Bangladesh Bank dissolved the boards of 11 banks in the country, one of which was Al-Arafah Islami Bank. Although the S. Alam Group has ownership in this bank, they have not played any role in controlling the normal operations of the bank. Like other good banks, this bank has a good reputation in the corporate area. Although there has been a cash crisis in various banks for more than a year, this bank was the opposite. Rather, during this time, Al-Arafah Islami Bank provided cash liquidity support to banks in crisis. As a result, this bank has finally reached a place of trust among its customers. However, although there has been no incident of any irregularities or corruption, a group that owns the bank has influenced the board of directors and transferred hundreds of officers to remote areas without any reason. The board of directors has been told that all these officials are appointed from Patiya and S Alam of Chattogram.
Despite the fact that there was no investment by S Alam Group in the bank or any irregularities during the time of former chairman Abdus Samad Labu, it is necessary to find out whether the agenda of a special group is being implemented through the recent controversial dismissal, transfer, and OSD of executives and officers in the bank. The management and Bangladesh Bank should investigate whether there is any discriminatory behavior against innocent officials. Otherwise, one of the best banks in the country will lose the trust of the people in a short time.