Two ministers, speaking in different voices, have given rise to confusion about whether the government has accepted donation from the Islami Bank to fund an Independence Day event where thousands are expected to sing the national anthem to set a world record.
Published : 18 Mar 2014, 04:17 PM
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu says the event cannot be funded by the bank and their money would be returned, while Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor claims no money has come from the organisation, which pro-liberation war forces claim is run by ‘war criminals’.
The ministers made these contradictory remarks at two different programmes they attended in capital Dhaka on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Cultural Affairs is in charge of putting up the event with help from the armed forces to create a world record by getting thousands of people to sing Bangladesh’s national anthem at Dhaka’s National Parade Ground on Mar 26.
This event was planned after Bangladesh set a record in creating the world’s largest human national flag with over 27,000 people standing in formation on Victory Day (Dec 16) last year.
At a programme at the Bangla Academy, the Information Minister 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.”
“Sheikh Hasina’s government might have its flaws. But it’s the only one giving us a chance at secularism,” he said.
Minutes later, talking to reporters at the Secretariat, Asaduzzaman Noor claimed they did not take any donation from Islami Bank for the event.
“Because this is an emotive issue,” he said.
“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.”
Prime Minister Sheikh 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.
A top official of the Islami Bank, who was present among the representatives of Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB), handed the prime minister a cheque for Tk 30 million at Ganabhaban that day.
News reports of that function led to massive criticism in the social media websites with groups calling for the event's boycott. Islami Bank was marked as an ‘organisation of the war criminals’ by the Ganajagaran Mancha.
Many have said that 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 mass 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.
Asaduzzaman Noor, however, on Tuesday 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, he 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.