Leader of the Opposition and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman has said opposition leaders and activists are prepared to take to the streets to resist any attempt to take over or exert control over Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC.

“Opposition leaders and activists are ready to take to the streets to liberate Islami Bank. No one will be allowed to play games with Islami Bank,” he said while speaking as chief guest at an Eid reunion programme held in the capital’s Mirpur on Wednesday night.

Moves were underway to hand over control of the bank to individuals appointed during the tenure of the previous Awami League government, he alleged.

The opposition leader also claimed that Tk 34,000 crore had been embezzled from Islami Bank during the Awami League government’s tenure. He warned that there were fears of another attempt to damage the banking sector in the same way. 

He added that any damage to Islami Bank would have a severe impact on the country’s economy.
“The country cannot continue like this,” he said, adding that Jamaat-e-Islami would act as a strong voice for the people and would never play the role of a “subservient opposition”.

He also said that if all 300 MPs took a unified decision, extortion could be eliminated.

Expressing concern over the energy sector, Shafiqur Rahman said that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz had created a crisis in the energy sector, the impact of which was also being felt in Bangladesh.

While gas reserves in the country were declining, no effective initiative had been taken to explore new gas fields, he said, and described the recent increase in gas prices by several hundred taka, followed by a reduction of only Tk 50, as “mockery with the nation.”