Demands include keeping ports under state control, scrapping corridor plans, cancelling Starlink agreement, terminating ‘unequal treaties’
A coalition of leftist parties and organisations under the banner of “Anti-Imperialist Patriotic People” has begun a road march from Dhaka to Chattogram to protest foreign control of ports as well as other demands centred on national sovereignty and anti-imperialism.
The march kicked off this morning with an inaugural rally in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka.
The coalition’s four key demands are: ensuring that the management of Chattogram Port, including the New Mooring Terminal, remains under state control; scrapping any plans to establish a transit corridor through Rakhine; cancelling the agreement with Elon Musk’s Starlink project; and terminating all unequal treaties with imperialist powers, particularly the United States and India, and making them public.
As part of the demonstration, activists displayed placards with slogans such as “Interim government is the gatekeeper of imperialism,” “Ports and corridors are not for foreigners,” “Scrap all anti-national unequal deals,” and “Cancel the agreement with US company Starlink.”
Speaking at the rally, Ruhin Hossain Prince, general secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), said, “We believe the aspirations of the 1971 Liberation War and the 2024 people’s uprising are rooted in the desire for true democracy, free from imperialist dominance. We pay tribute to the martyrs of past struggles. Our anti-imperialist fight is long-standing and rooted in people’s movements.”
He added, “We call upon the interim government to immediately abandon any plans to lease out the port or give away corridors to foreign powers. After tomorrow, there may be no new announcements. But if the government does not act, we will declare a broader programme of action at tomorrow’s rally.”
Several prominent leftist leaders also attended the rally, including former CPB president Mujahidul Islam Selim, Bazlur Rashid Firoz of the Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Basad), Mushtaq Hossain of Bangladesh Jasad, Nasiruddin Ahmed of the People’s Liberation Movement, and MM Akash of the Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, and Mineral Resources.
Renowned public intellectuals Serajul Islam Choudhury and Anu Muhammad expressed solidarity with the road march.
“Although they could not attend in person due to illness, they had extended moral support,” said CPB leader Ruhin Hossain Prince.
A number of social, student, and women’s organisations have also expressed solidarity with the movement.
Organisers said the road march will include brief rallies at various points along the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway throughout the day.
A major public gathering is scheduled at Comilla Town Hall in the evening.
Tomorrow, participants will hold a rally at the Shaheed Minar in Feni, followed by the concluding assembly in front of Chattogram Port at 5:00pm.
Report Courtesy: dailystar.net
