Depositors have been protesting and blocking banks in Chittagong for two consecutive days to get their deposits back. They gathered on the Agrabad Access Road around 10 am yesterday and started the protest. After a while, they first went to the Exim Bank in the Agrabad commercial area with a protest procession. The protesters locked the branches, expelling the officials and employees working there. Later, the branches of First Security Islami Bank, Social Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank and Union Bank were similarly locked.
The depositors locked themselves and took a position in front of the World Trade Center. They formed a human chain there. At one stage, more than a hundred depositors raised slogans, 'My money is in the bank, why am I on the streets?' The bank authorities brought in additional police and later brought the situation under control. At this time, panic arose among the customers of various banks. Many returned from the banks without making transactions.
The entire Bangladesh Victim Depositors Association, Chittagong, has been holding a lockout program for two consecutive days at the branches of the merged banks in Chittagong. The depositors also locked four branches in Khatunganj on Sunday to get their deposits back. Yesterday, they held the same program at the bank in the Agrabad commercial area.
In a brief protest rally held in front of the World Trade Center, speakers demanded full security of their deposits and assurance of quick refund. They also called for the cancellation of the decision to cut profits, normalize transactions and stop harassing customers.
The banks in the process of merging are Social Islami Bank, Exim Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank and First Security Islami Bank. These banks have a total of 1.31 lakh crore taka of deposits from about 7.5 lakh depositors.
What the protesters saying
Regarding the movement, Abul Kalam Azad, president of the All Bangladesh Victims Depositors Association, Chittagong, said, "We have kept our life savings in this bank for safety. Now we have to walk on the road to withdraw that money. We have sacrifices ahead, our families. But our money is being withheld in the name of merger."
In front of the bank, we spoke with the organization's general secretary, Mohammad Azam. He said, "We have submitted memorandums to various levels of the government as per the rules. Now, a program of locking branches is going on. A big agitation program will come in the future. We will not let our hard-earned money go to waste like this."
Depositors' Statements
A depositor named Samina Akhtar said, "Eid al-Adha is coming, but we don't have money. How will we offer the sacrifice if we don't get money? We are customers, we are not at fault. These bank branches have opened with the approval of Bangladesh Bank. Now they will have to take responsibility for this."
Sharmin Jannat, a depositor of First Security Islami Bank Agrabad branch, said, "We have not committed any crime by keeping our hard-earned money in the bank. Why this excuse about our deposit? I will get my money back, so what's the point of a haircut? The government has forced us to take to the streets without solving the problem."
Businessman Nurul Amin said, "I have half a crore taka stuck in Global Islami Bank. They are not giving me a single taka. The business is on the verge of closing. It has become difficult to run the family."
Bank officials in panic.
The officials of the five banks concerned are in panic after seeing the ongoing agitation. An official of Social Islami Bank, who did not want to be named, said, "Whatever we are doing, we are doing on the instructions of the authorities. Deposits are being renewed without a haircut. Efforts are being made to resolve the problem."
Another official of Global Bank said, "We are implementing the above decision. But the protesters are abusing us. What is our fault here?"
Additional police deployment:
Additional police have been deployed in various branches in response to the bank lock-up incident. Doublemooring Police Station OC Jamal Uddin Khan said, "Additional police have been deployed in front of the banks. We are vigilant to ensure that no one can cause any untoward incident."
On January 14, the central bank announced that it would not pay any profit on deposits of the five banks that were in the process of merging from the beginning of 2024 to the end of 2025. This created concern and criticism among depositors. Later, it reversed that position and in a new decision, set a 4 percent profit on personal and term deposits for 2024 and 2025.
