Tainted money makes its way

Jamaat-e-Islami money appears to have surreptitiously found its way into the Independence Day event ‘Lakho Konthe Sonar Bangla’, although the government had earlier rejected an Islami Bank donation after a social media outcry over the bank's Jamaat links.

It now transpires that Jamaat money came in the form of innocuous food packets that also contained medicines provided by Ibn Sina Pharmaceuticals, which is part of the trust that is the Islami Bank's sponsoring shareholder.

Over 250,000 people had gathered at the National Parade Square ground on Wednesday morning to create a Guinness record with an unprecedented number of people singing the national anthem in chorus.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also joined the ceremony along with ministers MPs and armed forces officials.

The Cultural Affairs Ministry was in charge of the event, while the army was tasked with the management work.

The organisers gave the participants a bag containing instructions, a cap and a food-box as they entered the ground.

Besides the food, the each box contained an oral saline packet along with essential medicines like pain killers and antacids.

The food was supplied by one ‘Captain’s Bakery’ and the medicines were products of Ibn Sina Pharmaceuticals.

The drug manufacturer is a concern of the Ibn Sina Trust, the sponsor-shareholder of Islami Bank.

Ibn Sina Trust is said to be patronised by the Jamaat-e-Islami, a party accused actively opposing Bangladesh's liberation during the 1971 War of Independence.

Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali, who currently faces a war crimes trial, was on the Ibn Sina Pharmaceuticals board.

Former Islami Bank chairman Shah Abdul Hannan heads the drug company’s board of directors, while managing director Abu Nasser Muhammad Abduz Zaher is the banks's current chairman.

On Mar 14, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had received donation for the Independence Day event and the hosting of 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), had handed the Prime Minister a cheque for Tk 30 million.

The social media reacted sharply to reports of the government accepting donation from a bank with Jamaat links.

Contradictory statements by the information minister and cultural affairs minister created confusion regarding the matter.

On Mar 23, the government finally said it would not accept the Islami Bank’s money to fund the national anthem event.

It said in a statement that most people held a negative view of the bank and various organisations had rebuffed 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,” the statement had read.