Dhaka: Several left-wing organisations in Bangladesh condemned the trade agreement with the United States, terming it “unequal and anti-national” and demanding its immediate cancellation, local media reported on Saturday.
The deal was signed on February 9, three days before the national elections during the tenure of the previous Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, sparking severe outrage.
The left organisations, including Bangladesh Chhatra Union, Bangladesh Jubo Union, and Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi, held a joint protest rally on Friday afternoon outside the National Museum in Dhaka, describing the agreement as a “treaty of servitude”, while calling for its immediate withdrawal.
They also warned of a “conspiracy” to lease out the country’s strategic assets — especially its ports — to foreign entities and urged citizens to stand against the move, Bangladeshi daily Dhaka Tribune reported.
Chhatra Union’s central secretary general, Bahauddin Shuvo, said that Bangladesh’s recent move to import oil from Russia amid the global energy crisis raised the question of US approval — but no clear decision or favourable response has followed.
He argued that it is unacceptable for a free and sovereign nation to allow another country such control or influence over its trade and foreign policy.
Shuvo called for mobilising public opinion against this “unjust and lopsided” agreement and pressing the government to withdraw it through mass mobilisation — warning that failure to do so could lead to a deeper economic, commercial, and diplomatic crisis in Bangladesh.
Jubo Union President Khan Asaduzzaman Masum alleged that Yunus came to power following a “bloody mass uprising” in 2024, which was celebrated as a supposed “blessing”, but he has served American interests after taking office.
Masum claimed it took Yunus approximately 18 months to fully deliver on those interests.
He further alleged that shortly after assuming power, Yunus arranged a massive tax waiver for his New York-based nonprofit microfinance organisation, and before leaving Bangladesh, the latter signed agreements that placed the country under imperialist control.
“We reject this treaty of subjugation with utter contempt,” the Dhaka Tribune quoted Masum as saying.
Udichi’s general secretary, Amit Ranjan Dey, said the interim government signed 14 agreements during its 18-month tenure, all of which allegedly ran counter to the interests of the Bangladeshi people.
Accusing Yunus of serving foreign interests, he claimed that the trade agreement was Yunus’s parting act of compromising the country’s sovereignty.
“We are being forced to buy poor-quality wheat at inflated prices, and now we’re hearing that even fuel imports require American approval. What is that, if not enslavement?” Dey questioned.
He warned that the trade agreement would adversely affect the daily lives of people across Bangladesh.
(IANS)
