Effigies of Adviser Sakhawat, BIDA’s Ashik and others burnt at DU

A group of students on Thursday burned effigies of several senior government officials at Dhaka University, protesting the government’s move to lease out the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chattogram Port to foreign entities.

The protest was held in the afternoon at the Raju Sculpture under the banner of “Sangkshubdha Shikkharthi Samaj” (Aggrieved Students’ Society). 

Demonstrators branded the officials as “economic hitmen”, alleging that they were facilitating foreign corporate interests at the cost of national sovereignty.

Effigies of Shipping Ministry Adviser M Sakhawat Hossain, Chief Adviser’s Special Envoy for International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury and Chattogram Port Authority Chairman SM Moniruzzaman were burned during the programme.

Speakers at the protest explained that the term “economic hitmen” refers to influential intermediaries who, under the guise of development loans, policy advice and corporate contracts, entangle developing countries in high-risk debt, unequal agreements and strategic investments, ultimately weakening their economic independence.

Addressing the gathering, Muhiyuddin Rahat, a student of the Department of Criminology, said the government was making an aggressive push just ahead of the election to lease the NCT to DP World.

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Former joint general secretary of the Parbatya Chattogram Chhatra Parishad, Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil Chowdhury, said the issue extended beyond the port. 

He claimed the hills and land in the Chattogram Hill Tracts could also come under threat.

The reporter can be reached at: [email protected]