Protests Called Against Leasing Laldia and Pangaon Ports to Foreign Companies
The Left Democratic Alliance believes that the country has been turned into a pawn of imperialist conspiracies. According to the alliance, the interim government is now implementing the previous autocratic government’s plan to lease out ports. They claim the government is attempting to portray foreign investment as development through such activities.
These comments were made in a statement sent to the media on Friday (14 November). In the statement, nationwide protests were announced for 16 November in opposition to leasing land at Laldia Char to a Danish company for port construction and leasing the Pangaon terminal to a Swiss company. The public was urged to join the movement to make the program successful.
The signatories of the statement were: Left Alliance Central Steering Committee Coordinator and BSD General Secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz; CPB President Sajjad Zahir Chondon and General Secretary Abdullah Kafi Ratan; Revolutionary Communist League General Secretary Iqbal Kabir Zahid; Democratic Revolutionary Party General Secretary Mosharrafa Mishu; BASAD (Marxist) Coordinator Masud Rana; and Bangladesh Socialist Party Executive President Abdul Ali.
The statement described the chief adviser’s address to the nation as deceptive and warned that it would deepen divisions among political parties and push the country into a prolonged crisis.
According to the statement, the chief adviser irrelevantly mentioned in his speech that a 30-year concession agreement with APM Terminals BV—owned by Denmark-based Maersk Group—for the Laldia Container Terminal project was about to be signed. The statement said that the government’s rush to hand over profitable ports to foreign companies ahead of the national elections is creating deep suspicion among the people. Such projects carry various geopolitical, economic, and military risks. Although different quarters have repeatedly expressed concerns, the government has ignored them.
Left Alliance leaders said the country’s law-and-order situation has severely deteriorated, yet the chief adviser did not mention a single word about it in his speech, which has shocked them. They compared the situation to Emperor Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burned. They said mob violence is rampant, women are being harassed, extremist fundamentalist activities are poisoning society, people are being shot dead in broad daylight in “film-style” killings, factories are closing, workers are being laid off, and people’s livelihoods are under attack. In the meantime, fallen fascist forces are carrying out various secret terrorist activities, creating an extreme sense of insecurity in public life.
They said the government’s activities over the past 15 months have enabled these fallen forces to re-emerge in the public sphere. Delays, flaws, and “case business” surrounding the July killings trial have raised concerns among the public about whether justice will ever be delivered. Not a single case has been adjudicated yet, they said, while the chief adviser claims that the trial is progressing.
The leaders said that a referendum to implement the July Charter has been proposed. They argued that such a referendum and an upper house are unnecessary and would become burdens on the nation. Only an elected parliament has the authority to amend the constitution. Therefore, they urged the government to announce an election schedule without delay. They also called on the government to refrain from unauthorized actions, such as handing over national assets like ports to foreign companies, and instead take measures to restore law and order and address the people’s urgent problems.
