Chittagong Port must be operated efficiently by port authority itself

Speakers at a rally on Saturday said the Chittagong Port must be operated efficiently and free from corruption by the Chittagong Port Authority, keeping it under state ownership. The port should by no means be leased to foreigners.

They warned that if the government does not retreat from these anti-national and anti-sovereignty activities, tougher programmers will be announced after the 5 August Mass Uprising Day.

Speakers made these remarks at the concluding rally in front of Chittagong Port gate after a two-day road march.

The road march began on Friday morning from Dhaka under the banner of the platform ‘Samrajjobadbirodhi Deshpremik Jonogon (Anti-Imperialist Patriotic People),’ a platform of left-wing parties and organisations. After holding rallies in various locations along the way, the road march reached the Chittagong Port area around 4:45 pm today, where the final rally took place.

Addressing the rally, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) general secretary Ruhin Hossain said, “Do not delay for even a second. Announce that we will not lease the port. We will operate Chittagong Port under state ownership, efficiently and without corruption.” He added that the government had undertaken a number of unauthorised initiatives that were not part of any planned reforms.

“You can see the port building over there. Was the port in the list of reforms? No, it was not. So why suddenly talk of leasing the port? Is it a loss-making entity? No, it is profitable,” he added.

Local firms have been operating the terminal for 17 years. The current operator, Saif Powertec Limited, will see its contract expired on 6 July. The port authority had sought government approval to manage the terminal directly after the contract ends.

A process started during the tenure of the Awami League government to hand over the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to Dubai-based DP World. The current interim government has advanced this process, and a formal agreement is expected to be signed in November.

Speakers questioned why the terminal, which is equipped with machinery purchased with port funds, is being handed over to foreign interests.

Regarding the corridor, Ruhin Hossain said, “The people of Chattogram are already suffering because of Myanmar and the Rohingya issue. The UN Secretary-General said that a multilateral solution is needed, but that did not happen. Instead, what are they now saying? That they will give Rakhine a corridor or a channel. We say there is a war going on there. Providing a corridor means dragging Bangladesh into an imperialist war. We will not allow this.”

Speakers placed four points during the road march. Now their final message is that the government must withdraw from these anti-national and anti-sovereignty activities in the spirit of the people’s uprising. If not, new protest programmes will be announced after the 5 August Mass Uprising Day. Any anti-nation and anti-sovereignty activities will be resisted.

The road march was held to press four main demands: that the management of Chittagong Port not be handed over to foreigners; that any attempt to involve Bangladesh in imperialist war schemes through Starlink or corridors be stopped; that all agreements signed with hegemonic countries by past governments be made public; and that any agreement against the national interest be annulled.

Participants in the road march carried placards with slogans such as “No to leasing ports and corridors to foreigners,” “Chittagong Port must not be handed over to foreigners,” “Cancel the agreement with US company Starlink,” “Cancel all unfair and anti-national agreements,” and “Stand against all forms of imperialist dominance, including those by the U.S. and India.” More than a thousand leaders and activists joined the concluding rally in Chittagong.

Presided over by Chittagong district CPB president Ashok Saha and moderated by BASAD district in-charge Al Kaderi Joy, Bazlur Rashid Firoz, general secretary of the central committee of BASAD; Iqbal Kabir Zahid, general secretary of Revolutionary Communist League of Bangladesh; Masud Rana, coordinator of BASAD (Marxist) and Democratic Left Alliance; Mosharafa Mishu, general secretary of Democratic Revolutionary Party; Nasir Uddin Ahmed, coordinator of Anti-Fascist Left Front and Ganomukti Union; Shubhrangshu Chakraborty, convener of Communist Movement of Bangladesh; and Shahidul Islam, general secretary of Socialist Party of Bangladesh, spoke at the event.

The two-day road march started in Dhaka, reached Feni on Friday night. A rally and procession were held in Feni on Saturday morning. The march passed through various parts of the Feni town, ending at Central Shaheed Minar, where a brief rally was held. The main slogan of the program was “Mother, Land, Estuary—We will not give them to foreigners.” From Feni, the road march continued to Mirsarai, where another rally was held. It then moved on to Gate No. 4 of Chittagong Port, where the road march concluded, followed by the concluding rally.