A growing coalition of left-leaning and nationalist groups warned on Saturday that they would launch strikes and blockades across the country if the government fails to cancel its plan to lease part of Chattogram Port to foreign entities and provide humanitarian corridors in Myanmar’s Rakhine region.
The statement came at the end of a two-day road march organized by the Anti-Imperialist Patriotic Mass Platform. The protest ended with a rally near the port, following a march that began at Barik Building in central Chattogram.
Organizers said thousands of supporters from various leftist parties joined the march, raising slogans and carrying banners opposing foreign involvement in port operations. They argue that the NCT terminal is a strategic and profitable part of Bangladesh’s infrastructure and should remain under national control.
“This isn’t just a lease. It’s a violation of sovereignty,” one speaker told the crowd. “We reject any attempt to involve our country in broader regional power games, whether through this port deal or the proposed humanitarian corridor in Rakhine.”
The platform accused the caretaker government, led by Dr. Yunus, of acting beyond its mandate by making strategic decisions on foreign agreements without electoral or parliamentary backing. Protesters claim these deals are being made under pressure from international powers and could lead to unintended involvement in geopolitical conflicts.
“If reforms were the priority, elections would be the focus,” said one of the leaders. “Instead, we are seeing the administration engage in unilateral moves. Leasing out a key terminal and supporting Starlink deployment is not their job.”
Marchers also took issue with the government’s reported willingness to support a U.S.-linked corridor in Rakhine, which they view as a backdoor entry into foreign military strategy. They called it a “calculated move” to involve Bangladesh in larger regional tensions.
The protesters issued a clear timeline: reverse the decisions by August 5 or face a wider movement. Plans include nationwide shutdowns and mass mobilizations.
But things got messy. A fight broke out right in the middle of the rally between two of the groups, Udichi and the Student Union. It sounds like it started when someone called out Udichi for not being truly independent, and things just exploded from there.
You can imagine the other student leaders were not happy. One person said what everyone was thinking: “We are shocked… we didn’t expect this.”
Even with all that drama, they tried to stick to the script, pushing their main demands to stop the lease and fix the election system. Who knows if the government will take them seriously now, but the groups say they’re moving ahead with their plans anyway.
