Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami MP Saiful Alam Khan on Tuesday expressed concern that the window for the return of S Alam Group has been opened by the Finance Minister, referring to the Bank Resolution Act, 2026 with provisions allowing former owners to regain control of troubled banks under certain conditions.
He raised the issue while participating in the discussion on the motion of thanks on the President’s speech in Parliament, highlighting the current situation of the country’s largest private-sector bank – Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC.
About the passage of the amendment to the Bank Resolution Act in the current session of Parliament, Saiful Alam said it has been reported in the media that Tk 705 crore was withdrawn from Islami Bank in a single day.
The report on the deposit and withdrawal of money for three days shows that it is going in the negative direction, he said.
The Jamaat MP from Dhaka-12 mentioned that surprising thing is that all the private Islamic banks in Bangladesh have been looted. “That looting was done by S Alam and his friends. In the words of the Finance Minister, the window has been opened through the Bank Resolution Act 2026. I can see that S Alam will probably come through that window,” he said.
Saiful Alam called on the government to save the largest Islamic bank. “This bank must be saved. The bank had about 12 million customers. This is the largest number of customers for a private bank. It was good news for us. If the Islami Bank collapses today, the country's economy will be hit hard.”
He also voiced his deep concern and disappointment over the non-ratification of the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance-2025 and the Prevention and Redress of Disappearances Ordinance-2025 by Parliament, saying these could have been a landmark step in the protection of human rights in this country.
“This decision is not just a matter of repealing a law; it risks pushing us back towards an old ineffective and unaccountable structure,” the Jamaat MP said.
He highlighted the issue of the independence of the judiciary in particular. “We have seen the suspension of the Supreme Court’s judicial appointment process and the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance.”
As a result, he said, the judiciary has been pushed back towards the old party-dominated structure that this country has seen for the past 17 years, with the influence of the executive weakening the judiciary.
“We have seen a Chief Justice was forced to leave the country for taking an independent stand and he was tragically forced to resign. In this reality, the public’s trust in the judiciary was almost destroyed,” Saiful Alam said.
He called for ensuring the full independence of the judiciary and formatting a strong independent National Human Rights Commission.