Jamaat holds protest rally, terms proposed budget ‘anti-people, loot-friendly’

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami today, Thursday staged a protest rally in the capital immediately after the presentation of the proposed national budget for the 2026-27 fiscal, describing it as “anti-people but loot-friendly,” and expressing their dissatisfaction with the additional tax burdens it imposes on citizens.

Speaking at a rally before the procession, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General and former MP AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad alleged that the government had presented the budget to sustain party loyalists at the expense of ordinary people.

“The government has imposed a burden of taxes on the people while presenting a budget aimed at maintaining party workers,” he said.

Referring to the proposed Tk 9.38 trillion (9.38 lakh crore) budget, the largest in Bangladesh’s history, Azad claimed it failed to reflect the aspirations of the July Uprising and instead followed the conventional pattern of previous budgets.

He described the budget as heavily dependent on loans and taxation, arguing that it would place an additional burden on citizens while increasing the country's debt liabilities.

Azad alleged that the size of the budget had been expanded to facilitate corruption and misuse of development funds by ruling party activists.

“Those who formulated the budget belong to the affluent class, which is why it is a pro-rich budget. They do not understand the suffering of poor people and therefore failed to present a people-oriented budget,” he said.

He also criticised the allocation structure, claiming that nearly 70 per cent of the budget would be spent on operational expenditures, leaving limited benefits for the general public.

Azad said Jamaat had proposed a budget that was Tk 1 trillion (100,000 crore) smaller than the government’s proposal, arguing that such a budget would reduce opportunities for corruption and ensure resources were used directly for public welfare.

He urged the government to revise its proposed budget by incorporating Jamaat’s recommendations.

The Jamaat leader further said the government had set a revenue collection target of Tk 6.95 trillion (6.95 lakh crore), including Tk 6.04 trillion (6.04 lakh crore) from the National Board of Revenue (NBR), which he said would result in higher indirect taxes, customs duties and advance taxes that would ultimately affect ordinary consumers.

Although the tax-free income threshold has been proposed to increase from Tk 350,000 to Tk 375,000 (3.5 lakh to 3.75 lakh), Azad argued that rising indirect taxes would increase living costs for middle- and lower-income groups.

He also expressed concern over the proposed budget deficit of Tk 2.43 trillion (2.43 lakh crore), saying the government's plan to borrow Tk 1.12 trillion (1.12 lakh crore) from the banking sector could reduce private-sector access to credit and hamper investment and job creation.

Addressing the rally, Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Advocate Moazzem Hossain Helal alleged that the proposed budget would primarily benefit ruling party-linked businesspeople, extortionists and political activists rather than the general public.

“If the government cannot present a truly people-oriented budget, it should follow Jamaat’s proposed framework,” he said.

The rally was chaired by Advocate Helal Uddin, Nayeb-e-Ameer of Jamaat’s Dhaka South unit, and conducted by Muhammad Delawar Hossain, assistant secretary of the city unit.

Among others, Jamaat leaders Abdul Mannan and Muhammad Shamsur Rahman also addressed the gathering.

In his presidential speech, Helal Uddin claimed that instead of meeting public expectations for a new Bangladesh following the July uprising, the government had presented a conventional budget based on the old system.

He criticised the proposal to require Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) certificates for opening bank accounts, claiming it would place an additional burden on ordinary citizens.

Following the rally at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, participants brought out a protest procession that marched through Paltan intersection and Bijoynagar.

The demonstrators demanded that the government revise the proposed budget and announce what they described as a truly people-friendly budget.