Desk Report:
Dismissed officials of Islami Bank protested on the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar highway in the crossing area of Karnaphuli upazila in Chittagong. Traffic was stopped on the road during this time. The program was observed from 12 noon to 1 pm today (September 30). No traffic was mov- ing on the highway for an hour due to the protest.
However, the protesters left the vehicles engaged in emergency work, including ambulances carrying patients. At this time, the protesters called those who participated in the special assessment test of Islami Bank hypocrites and threw eggs at their pictures.
The protesting dismissed officials said that if their reasonable demands are not accepted during the Durga Puja holidays, they will observe an all-out blockade program from next Sunday. They said that 5,500 officials of Chittagong working in Islami Bank are facing a serious crisis today. Ignoring the court’s ban, an exam called ‘Skill Assessment Test’ was organized, which they collectively rejected. Since then, unjust persecution has begun against them. Already 200 officers have been dismissed and 4,953 more have been made OSD. In protest, the bank officials called for a road blockade program with six demands.
Five bank officials (who did not want to be named) participating in the movement said, “Those who have been made terminators without reason should be reinstated in their positions; those who have been transferred to distant branches should be brought closer; those who received illegal promotions during the previous government should be investigated; a work environment free from discrimination and politics should be created. All types of assessment tests should be stopped by imposing conditions. In addition, we have started the movement demanding that the mental and physical torture that has been inflicted on officers in Chittagong in various branches of Bangladesh be properly investigated, the guilty should be punished, and all officers in greater Chittagong should be returned to their workplaces.”
