Protests Against Pact With DP World
Published: 11:44 PM, 08 October 2026
Cops charge baton, several demonstrators injured
CPB President Sazzad Zahir Chandan was wounded during a crackdown by police force while socialist parties were agitating against a deal signed with UAE-based company DP World. - AA
Police dispersed a protest rally with batons that had been organized to oppose an agreement with DP World, a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company, for operating the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) at Chattogram Port.
The concession agreement with the company was signed at around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, at the Invest Bangladesh office in Agargaon, Dhaka, formerly known as BIDA. The agreement has been signed for a period of 15 years.
Several organizations, including the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), gathered in front of the Invest Bangladesh office from around 2 p.m. yesterday to protest the agreement. At around 2:45 p.m., police dispersed the protesters by baton-charging them.
CPB President Sazzad Zahir Chandan, who was present at the scene, told ProthomAlo, "We came in front of the BIDA building today on behalf of the Anti-Imperialist and Anti-War Coalition to protest the agreement with DP World for the New Mooring Container Terminal at Chattogram Port. We believe this agreement amounts to selling out Bangladesh. DP World has links with the US Navy; this can be understood by visiting their website."
Sazzad Zahir further said, "Giving the New Mooring Container Terminal at Chattogram Port to DP World would, in our view, allow the United States to directly interfere with Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty. They would use our seaports, airports, and other facilities."
He said, "We came here today to protest against this. Ours was a peaceful rally. At one point during the peaceful gathering, the police baton-charged us without any provocation. Those who are selling Bangladesh to the United States and DP World today will forever be remembered as traitors and betrayers of the country. We, the leftists, will remain in the field of struggle. We will protect the country's ports and national resources, even if it costs us our last drop of blood."
CPB leaders said that police carried out a heavy baton charge during their peaceful protest, injuring several leaders and activists, including SazzadZahirChandan.
