The Dhaka Metropolitan branch of the Bangladesh Socialist Party (BASAD) staged a protest rally in front of the National Press Club on Friday afternoon, demanding a people-oriented budget instead of what it described as a “pro-rich budget.”

The rally called for increased allocations to education, healthcare, agriculture, and social protection sectors; cancellation of what BASAD termed an “unequal trade agreement” with the United States; an end to efforts to lease Chattogram Port’s New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) to DP World; withdrawal of increased fuel, gas, and electricity prices; justice for Ramisa and all child rape victims; and the declaration of measles as a “public health emergency” or epidemic.

The protest, held at 4:30 pm on June 12, was presided over by BASAD Dhaka Metropolitan Branch In-Charge Nikhil Das. Speakers included BASAD Central Committee General Secretary Comrade Bazlur Rashid Firoz, Central Committee member Zulfikar Ali, and city leaders Ahsam Habib Bulbul, Zakir Hossain, and Rukhsana Afroz Asha. The event was moderated by city leader Khalekuzzaman Lipon.

Addressing the gathering, Bazlur Rashid Firoz criticized the government’s newly announced Tk 938,000 crore national budget, describing it as the largest in the country’s history but also carrying a record deficit of Tk 243,000 crore.

He argued that the government’s reliance on domestic and foreign borrowing to bridge the deficit exposed fundamental weaknesses in the economy.

Firoz also questioned the government’s ambitious revenue targets, noting that it had failed to meet revenue collection goals in the current fiscal year.

He alleged that, following recommendations from the IMF, the budget had increased indirect tax burdens on ordinary citizens while reducing source taxes benefiting wealthier groups.

“The budget promises new employment opportunities and lower inflation, but offers no concrete roadmap to achieve either,” he said, adding that military and other non-productive sectors continued to receive priority while education, healthcare, and agriculture remained neglected.

BASAD leaders further stated that recent increases in fuel, gas, and electricity prices had intensified the suffering of ordinary people.

They expressed concern over rising child deaths from measles and what they described as growing violence against women and children amid a culture of impunity. The speakers demanded swift justice for Ramisa and all victims of child rape.

The rally also strongly opposed plans to lease the profitable New Mooring Container Terminal at Chattogram Port to DP World. BASAD leaders alleged that the initiative, pursued under previous governments, was being continued by the current administration.

Speakers additionally criticized a trade agreement signed with the United States during the tenure of the interim government, claiming it threatened Bangladesh’s agriculture, pharmaceutical industry, financial sector, and national sovereignty.

They urged the government to cancel the agreement and called on citizens to join movements against what they described as imperialist aggression and the plundering of national resources by domestic and foreign interests.

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