Rebutting a minister’s claim, the Islami Bank has said it has donated Tk 30 million (three crore) for the Independence Day event in which thousands are expected to sing the national anthem to set a world record.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Tuesday said this event cannot be funded by the organisation, which pro-liberation war forces claim is run by ‘war criminals’ and that their money would be returned.
Minutes later, Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor claimed they received no money from the bank.
Hours after their remarks, the bank said it had given the government Tk 30 million for the programme styled ‘Lakho Konthe Jatiya Sangit’ (National Anthem on Thousand Voices) slated for Mar 26.Executive Vice-President Ataur Rahman told journalists: “Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited Vice-Chairman Engineer Mustafa Anwar on March 14 handed the Tk 30 million cheque to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for that event.”
The Islami Bank top official was among the representatives of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) who handed the cheques of donations at Ganabhaban that day.
Rahman said Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith and Prime Minister’s Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury were also present at the time.
A press release was also issued the following day in this regard, he added.
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs is in charge of putting up the event with help from the armed forces to create the world record at Dhaka’s National Parade Ground.
This attempt was planned after Bangladesh set a record in creating the world’s largest national flag made of humans with over 27,000 people on Victory Day (December 16) last year.
Prime Minister Hasina, on Mar 14, had accepted donations for the I-Day event and the hosting of the T20 World Cup from various corporate sectors including telecom, power, banks and insurance companies.
Reports of that function sparked massive criticism on the social networking websites with groups calling for the event’s boycott. Islami Bank has been marked out as an ‘organisation of the war criminals’ by the Ganajagaran Mancha.
Many have said there is no need for a world record if it is funded by the bank which is run by people close to the Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed Bangladesh’s Liberation War and openly helped the Pakistani military junta.
Ganajagaran Mancha, the popular youth-led movement demanding punishment for the war criminals of 1971 and a ban on Jamaat, has been pressing for a boycott of all financial institutions having links with the party.
At a programme at the Bangla Academy on Tuesday, Information Minister Inu said, “I think their money should be returned, I don’t know what will happen to me but there will be no anthem with money from Islami Bank. The money will be returned.”
Minutes later, speaking to reporters at the Secretariat, Noor claimed no donation from that bank was received.
“Because this is a touchy issue,” he said, explaining, “There was criticism when Islami Bank funding was accepted for the last World Cup. That’s why we did not take any money from them to avoid controversy.”
He, however, said the bank was involved in funding the T20 World Cup hosted by Bangladesh, which began from Mar 16.
The cultural affairs minister explained, “They (Islami Bank) are not an illegal bank.”
He said all preparations were nearly finished for the Mar 26 event. Tk 500 million will be spent on it, in which nearly 300,000 people will sing the national anthem, Noor added.
The ministry alone will spend up to Tk 250 million as many educational institutions and readymade garment factories will attend the programme with their own funding.-bdnews24.com
