A state conference of the Bank of India staff union in Kerala invited criticism after the name of former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf appeared in their working report document.  Pervez Musharraf was listed among 142 prominent personalities who died between 2022 and 2024, to whom the union paid homage. A controversy erupted after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers conducted a march to the venue calling the conference ‘anti-national’. 

The union, affiliated to the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), held the conference at Alappuzha on July 27. 

A source in the Bank of India union told TNM that it was a mistake committed during copy-pasting from Google the names of world leaders who died between the years 2022 to 2024.

“It was a mistake that happened while preparing the list. There was no discussion and deliberation involved in deciding the names. While some of our ex-employees were added to the list through consensus, the names of most others, including world leaders, were taken from Google. Pervez Musharraf’s name too was added like that,” the source explained.

The union clarified that once they noticed Musharraf’s name, they removed it from the list and did not pay homage to him. “We sent the printed document as a book to our branches to correct mistakes and make additions. One of our branches noticed this and alerted us. We immediately erased his name using a pen from all the other books that were supposed to be circulated to the delegates who attended the conference. We mentioned this mistake during the conference and skipped his name,” the source added.

The National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW), a BJP-affiliated union, condemned this by calling it the “anti-national character of the Bank of India Staff Union Kerala” and alleged this was intentionally done by the union. 

Their press release read, “We believe this was intentional as July 26 is observed all over India as Kargil Vijay Divas. Remembering the mastermind of the Kargil infiltration on the very next day after Kargil Vijay Divas is an insult to thousands of members of our armed forces who sweat their blood to safeguard our nation. It's also an insult to the large number of ex-service men, some of whom even participated in the Kargil War and who are currently employed in the banking sector.”

The incident has been widely covered by right-wing media outlets and criticism erupted in X (formerly Twitter). 

The source toldTNM that even though they are affiliated to the AIBEA, they are not leaning towards Left politics. “We invited Congress leader KC Venugopal to inaugurate the function. We have listed Kerala’s former chief minister Oommen Chandy’s name for paying homage, and some BJP leader’s names were also there. Now social media users have created a fake image by sharing our notice and Pervez Musharraf’s photo. We didn’t use Pervez Musharraf’s photo in the notice,” the source explained. 

Following the controversy, the NOBW requested the Finance Ministry to initiate an investigation and urge Bank of India to expel the employees who were responsible for organising the meeting.