Effigies of several individuals were burned at Dhaka University on Thursday in protest against the government’s move to lease the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) of Chittagong Port to foreign entities, branding them as “economic hitmen.”
The demonstration was held in the afternoon at the Raju Sculpture under the banner of “Aggrieved Student Community (Sangkhubdo Shikkarti Samaj).”
Effigies of Shipping Ministry Adviser M Sakhawat Hossain, the Chief Adviser’s Special Envoy for International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Executive Chairman Ashik Chowdhury, and Chattogram Port Authority Chairman S M Moniruzzaman were set ablaze during the programme.
The protesters said the government must withdraw from any initiative to hand over control of Chattogram Port, described as a key pillar of Bangladesh’s national security, to foreign hands.
Mohiuddin Rahat, a 2019–20 session student of the Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, said the government is making excessive efforts just ahead of the election to lease the New Mooring Container Terminal to DP World.
“It appears as if the government believes its entire mission and vision will fail if it cannot hand over this port,” he said.
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He further alleged that four individuals within the Bangladesh government are attempting to lease the New Mooring Terminal to DP World in exchange for commissions from foreign companies, and that they have been lobbying extensively to hand over Chattogram Port to DP World.