Dhaka Tribune - 11 April 2026
Left-wing groups rally against US trade deal, demand its cancellation
Left-wing organizations have denounced the recently signed trade agreement with the United States as "unequal and anti-national," demanding it be scrapped immediately.
To press this demand, Bangladesh Chhatra Union, Bangladesh Jubo Union, and Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi held a joint protest rally Friday afternoon in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh in the capital.
Speakers at the rally described the agreement as a "treaty of servitude" and called for its immediate cancellation.
They also raised alarms over what they called a conspiracy to lease out the country's strategic assets — particularly its ports — to foreign entities, urging people to stand against it.
Bangladesh Chhatra Union's Central Secretary General Bahauddin Shuvo said that when Bangladesh moved to import oil from Russia amid the ongoing global energy crisis, the question of obtaining US approval surfaced — yet no clear decision or positive response has been forthcoming.
He argued that for a free and sovereign nation, allowing another country such control or influence over its trade and foreign policy is simply unacceptable.
He further alleged that the recently concluded trade deal with the United States was not struck on equal footing, but rather runs counter to the country's interests — and that both the ruling party and the opposition have remained conspicuously silent on the matter, suggesting there is in practice no real difference between them when it comes to national interest.
Shuvo called for building public opinion against this "unjust and lopsided" agreement and forcing the government to walk it back through mass mobilization — warning that failure to do so would drag the country into an even deeper economic, commercial, and diplomatic crisis.
Jubo Union President Khan Asaduzzaman Masum alleged that Dr Yunus arrived in the country after a bloody mass uprising, hailed as a supposed blessing — but that once in office, he has effectively served American interests. Masum claimed it took him roughly eighteen months to fully deliver on those interests.
He further alleged that shortly after taking power, Dr Yunus arranged a massive tax waiver for his own organization, and that before departing, he signed agreements that amount to placing the country under imperialist control.
"We reject this treaty of subjugation with utter contempt," he declared.
In his presidential address, Udichi's General Secretary Amit Ranjan Dey said the interim government signed fourteen agreements over eighteen months, all working against the interests of the Bangladeshi people.
He alleged that the trade deal signed with the United States just three days before the election was Dr Yunus's parting act of selling off the country's sovereignty — that he came to power for no reason other than to serve his foreign patrons.
Amit Ranjan Dey added: "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?"
He warned that the trade agreement would have a damaging impact on the daily lives of ordinary Bangladeshis.
