A student organization called “Students for Sovereignty” held a “Bangladesh First” flag rally at Dhaka University to protest foreign dominance at Chittagong Port.
The protest gathering began in front of the Raju Memorial Sculpture at 12:30pm on Wednesday.
After brief speeches there, the procession marched from Raju Sculpture to the National Museum at Shahbag, where it concluded.
Jiyaul Haque, convener of Students for Sovereignty, urged that there’s no sector in Bangladesh that’s free from corruption. “So why single out Chittagong? If there’s corruption, extortion, and cartels at Chittagong Port, the government needs to take proper measures to stop them.”
“But handing over Chittagong Port to foreigners under the guise of fighting corruption means taking a stand against Bangladesh itself.”
He added that if this port had been given to an Indian or Israeli operator, the Bangladeshi people would have protested.
“But this DP World that we’ve signed a contract with has multiple agreements with both India and Israel. In today’s modern world, one state doesn’t directly enter another.”
They presented three demands to the government, cancelling the lease agreement with DP World for the New Mooring Terminal, cancelling the contracts with APM Terminals and Maersk for Laldiar Char and Pangaon Terminal, and decentralizing the port system — meaning take initiatives to establish multiple seaports in different parts of the country along with numerous river ports.
Also present at the flag rally were joint convener Mohiuddin Rahat, office member Saiful Islam, and other leaders and activists of the organization.
