Jamaat protests BNP’s call to exclude Islami Bank staff from election duty

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has expressed concern over the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) call to the Election Commission (EC) not to assign election duties to employees of Islami Bank and several other institutions allegedly influenced by Jamaat.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Jamaat Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Porwar described the BNP’s appeal as “politically motivated and baseless.”

Referring to BNP’s October 23 request to the EC, he said the party’s move to exclude officials and employees of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, Islami Bank Hospital, and Ibn Sina Hospital from election duties was “unjustified and unacceptable.”

“These institutions are apolitical and service-oriented. For many years, they have been providing quality services with honesty and professionalism, earning trust from people of all communities,” the Jamaat leader said.

He added that the employees of these organizations perform their duties with integrity, and their neutrality has never been questioned.

Professor Porwar warned that such politically driven allegations could create confusion and uncertainty ahead of the national elections.

“If political parties continue to make baseless accusations against service-oriented, non-political institutions, it could lead to chaos and undermine the electoral process,” he cautioned.

He also urged the Election Commission not to entertain what he described as “misleading, unfounded, and politically motivated demands,” saying that doing so would set a “harmful precedent” for future elections.

Earlier, BNP had urged the Election Commission to ensure that officials from Jamaat-influenced organizations, particularly Islami Bank, are not engaged in polling duties, citing concerns over neutrality and past allegations of partisan involvement.