Leaders and activists of Left parties on Friday staged a sit-in on the premises of the central Shaheed Minar, demanding cancellation of all agreements, including the one on the Rampal power plant, which will harm the Sunderbans. Engineer Sheikh Mohammad Sahidullah, convenor of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, led the agitation. Expressing solidarity with the cause, Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) president Mujahidul Islam Selim said it has been established that the power plant, when set up, will endanger animal life and flora and fauna in the Sunderbans.
“We are not against the power plant as such. We are fighting to protect the Sunderbans. I am for both, the Sunderbans and the power plant. That is why the Rampal power plant will be stopped by bringing in political changes, if needed,” he added. Columnist Sayed Abul Moksud said the committee represents 16 crore people of the country who did not agree with the power plant project.
“This project is nothing but a conspiracy of a few people against the whole nation. The names of those involved in this will be uttered along with the names of Liberation War criminal Golam Azam and others. Even the animals of the Sunderbans would protest against the Rampal project, if they could,” he said.
Prof. Anu Muhammad, member-secretary of the committee, said people at home and abroad are protesting against the decision. "Our demand is very clear. There will be no power plant project that would harm the Sunderbans."
He urged all to participate in the protest in their respective areas to save the world’s largest mangrove forest.
After the sit-in, an open canvas was arranged on the left side of the Shaheed Minar, and people wrote down their comments on it.
Among other organisations, the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dol, Bangladesh Communist Party, Bangladesh Workers' Party, Gonoshonghoti Andolon, Biplabi Workers' Party and the Gonotantrik Bam Morcha participated in the sit-in.
A Bangladesh-India joint venture company signed an agreement with India's state-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd on July 12, 2016, paving the way for construction of the much-debated Rampal coal power plant. The construction is to start within three to four months. The plant is expected to begin commercial production by July 2019.
Green activists and Left political parties of the country have demanded that the government scrap the agreement to set up a power plant at Rampal as it is likely to destroy the ecosystem of the Sunderbans.