Left-wing parties and allied organizations in Bangladesh held a major rally at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital on Friday afternoon, denouncing what they described as American imperialism and demanding the cancellation of unequal foreign agreements, including a trade deal with the US and the lease of a key Chittagong Port terminal to DP World.
The gathering was organized by the Imperialism and Anti-War Alliance (Samrajyabad o Juddhabirodhi Jote).
Speakers called for the scrapping of the US trade agreement, the New Mooring Container Terminal lease to DP World, and all other unequal foreign treaties.
They also protested open-pit coal mining plans in Fulbari and proposals for an LNG terminal that they said would destroy the Sundarbans, while demanding that Bangladesh not be drawn into international military alliances.
Bazlur Rashid Firoz, coordinator of the alliance and general secretary of the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Basad), presided over the rally and announced its programs. Speakers included Sazzad Zahir Chandan, president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB); Shubhrangshu Chakravarty of the Anti-Fascist Left Front and Samyabadi Andolon; Iqbal Kabir Zahid of the Bangladesh Revolutionary Communist League; Mushtaq Hossain of Bangladesh JSD; Masud Rana of Basad (Marxist); Mosherefa Mishu of the Democratic Revolutionary Party; Harunar Rashid Bhuiya of Basad (Mahbub); Shahidul Islam of the Bangladesh Socialist Party; Abdul Ali of the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Party; Rajat Huda of the Jatiya Ganafront; and others. CPB general secretary Abdullah Al Kafee Ratan conducted the event.
Senior left leaders such as Manzurul Ahsan Khan, Khalekuzzaman, Mujahidul Islam Selim, Md. Shah Alam, economist Professor Anu Muhammad, Ruhin Hossain (Prince), poet Mohan Raihan, and representatives from student, youth, women’s, workers’, peasants’, cultural, and professional organizations were also present. Cultural performances by artists from Udichi Shilpigosthi, Biborton Sangskritik Kendra, and Charan Sangskritik Kendra preceded the speeches, with a recitation by Hasan Fakhri.
Speakers alleged that the interim government had signed a subordinate trade agreement with the United States that endangers the country’s economy, independence, sovereignty, and national security. They claimed the current BNP-led government is implementing the deal while ignoring public opinion, and accused Jamaat-e-Islami, the NCP, and the 11-party alliance of effectively supporting it by not opposing it.
They further charged that successive leasing of the country’s main seaport terminals to foreign firms risks placing critical economic infrastructure under foreign control.
Leaders contrasted the mass uprising slogan of “Delhi na Dhaka” with what they called the current government’s “America first” policy, saying the ruling class was shifting dependence from one imperialist power to another.
They also criticized rising costs of the metro rail project and the awarding of contracts to a Delhi-based company. The alliance announced two months of district- and upazila-level meetings, rallies, processions, and mass contact programs. If demands are not met, it plans a Dhaka rally on December 29, followed by a protest march to the Prime Minister’s Office and submission of a memorandum.
Speakers called for united mass movements against capitalism, imperialism, and fundamentalism, while protesting imperialist wars and aggression worldwide.