The central bank has removed Deputy Managing Director of Islami Bank Nurul Islam for his alleged involvement with Jamaat-e-Islami, the party which opposed the birth of Bangladesh in 1971.
Bangladesh Bank issued a letter in this regard yesterday. The decision came after the Finance Ministry asked the central bank governor to take action against the financial organisations linked to Jamaat.
A top officer of the central bank confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune that Nurul Islam had been removed on the ground that he was a convict and has cases against him.
The central bank issued the letter yesterday saying that a convict cannot hold such a high position. Moreover, the cases against him are yet to be disposed of.
The letter, however, did not mention about the issue of his Jamaat connection.
Bangladesh Bank last month detected 27 suspected terror financial transactions made by Islami Bank and put it under the scanner. Earlier, the bank was fined four times under the Anti-Money Laundering Act for militant financing.
Last year, the National Committee on Militancy Resistance and Prevention asked the central bank to ensure submission of the reports to the ministry on the expenditures of the Islamic banks and insurance companies.
Apart from the Finance Ministry, the Home Ministry too sent a letter to the central bank asking them to take action against Nurul Islam for his alleged involvement in militant financing. The ministry said they had found involvement of the banker with the recent violence carried out by Jamaat-Shibir.
The central bank launched an inquiry against the accused following the Home Ministry’s instructions. The inspection team was led by Dipankar Bhattacharya, a deputy general manager of the central bank’s Bank Inspection Department 1.
The Home Ministry was concerned about Nurul Islam as he had been chosen for the managing director post to replace the existing MD, Mohammad Abdul Mannan, by the board of Islami Bank.
When contacted, Managing Director Mannan refused to make any comment over the issue.
Another top manager of the central bank said that the board had not proposed Nurul Islam’s name officially.
The official, asking not to be named, said that the foreign stakeholders of Islami Bank were selling their shares because of the involvement of the bank with war criminals.
On the other hand, the ruling party is planning to take position in the bank’s board by buying 2% shares.
The institutions conducting Islamic banking are now under the close monitoring of Bangladesh Bank, said a senior executive of the central bank. Inspection teams are sent to Islami Bank every month to check whether it has any connection with militant financing or Jamaat-e-Islami. The central bank is now planning to find the other high officials of the bank with ties with Jamaat following the Finance Ministry’s instructions.
Jamaat was branded as a criminal organisation in several judgements released by the International Crimes Tribunal. Moreover, the government is preparing for taking legal action against Jamaat as a party for its role in 1971.
War crimes trial campaigners demand that Jamaat be banned for its role against the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, and that its financial and other institutions be nationalised.
Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali, who was sentenced to death for war-time crimes, is a former vice-chairman of the bank. He is also the founder of Islami Bank Foundation.
The demands surfaced after the Shahbagh movement in 2013 – launched to demand capital punishment of all the war criminals. The top war criminals belong to Jamaat as it collaborated with the Pakistani Army as a party to commit genocide, murders, torture and rape against the Bangali people.
The ruling government also drew criticisms several times in the last couple of years for taking donation from Islami Bank.