After much drama, the government has finally said it will not accept Islami Bank’s Tk 30 million donation for the Independence Day event of a mass singing of the national anthem.
Published : 23 Mar 2014, 01:24 PM
The finance ministry in a statement on Sunday said it was up to the bank to decide whether it wanted to give the money for the ongoing World T20 tournament instead.
Media reports said the government had received Tk 30 million from the bank which, the pro-liberation forces say, is ‘an associate organisation of the war criminals’.
Islami Bank is said to be patronised by the Jamaat-e-Islami, a party accused of opposing Bangladesh's liberation during the 1971 War of Independence.
The social media reacted sharply to reports of the government accepting donation from the bank.
Contradictory statements by the information minister and cultural affairs minister created confusion over the matter.
The bank’s authorities later claimed they had donated Tk 30 million for the programme.
The culture ministry, in association with the armed forces, is organising the Independence Day event.
Udichi Shilpi Goshti, one of Bangladesh’s foremost cultural organisations, withdrew its offer to participate in the mass singing of national anthem in protest against the Islami Bank’s donation.
The government said most people held a negative view of the bank and various organisations had refused its assistance in the past.
“Hence, it can be unequivocally said that [the government is] not taking donation from the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited for the ‘Lakho Konthe Sonar Bangla’ programme,” read the statement.