Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dhaka Metropolitan North unit held a protest march in the capital against higher prices for fuel gas and electricity and the rising cost of essentials.
Women carrying pots and pans and LPG gas placards took part in the programme in Uttar Badda on Thursday afternoon. It began with a rally under the Uttar Badda bridge at 3pm.
It was led by Mohammad Selim Uddin, a member of Jamaat’s central executive council and amir of Dhaka Metropolitan North. After the rally, the march went round main roads and ended in front of the Badda U-loop.
Presiding over the rally, Mohammad Selim Uddin said: “We have not come here to press personal demands or to take political revenge. We have come to establish the people’s rightful claims.”
“When you go to the market you see despair and unease on people’s faces. There is no balance between people’s incomes and the prices of goods. Fuel and electricity prices go up again and again, but people’s incomes do not rise in proportion,” he said.
“The market syndicates must be broken at once and essentials supplied at fair prices. Prices of essentials must be kept within what people can afford,” the Jamaat leader said.
Criticising the government, he said: “You cannot run the country. Hand out cards or do whatever you like, you will not be able to convince the people with this. If you anger the people and they lose faith in you, you will not be able to stay in power.”
Referring to the garment workers’ protests, Selim Uddin said: “The workers have demanded higher wages. Their demand is not unjust. If the government understood the rise in the prices of essentials, it would not have had to baton-charge workers, and a worker would not have had to lose his life.”
He demanded an end to harassment and dismissal of workers and payment of wages on time. At the same time he urged workers not to vandalise vehicles or set fire to factories in the name of their movement. In his words, they must be careful that no third party diverts the workers’ rightful movement.
Also speaking at the rally were Atikur Rahman, central president of the Bangladesh Sramik Kalyan Federation; Mahfuzur Rahman, a member of Jamaat’s central working council and assistant secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan North; Yasin Arafat; and Ataur Rahman Sarkar.
Jamaat central Majlis-e-Shura member Jamal Uddin and leaders from various levels of the metropolitan unit were also present.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report