A march was held from Purana Paltan intersection in Dhaka to Nawabpur as part of a nationwide protest program demanding the cancellation of the trade agreement signed with the United States.
Communist Party of Bangladesh protests US trade agreements
At a rally before the march, CPB leaders said that Bangladesh has been trapped in the net of an unequal trade agreement. CPB leaders have called the signing of this servile agreement by the interim government on the eve of the 13th national elections a conspiratorial and anti-national act.
Monday, March 30, 2026, a nationwide protest announced by the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) Central Committee was held. At 4:30 pm, a march was held from Purana Paltan More to demand the cancellation of the agreement under the initiative of CPB Dhaka Metropolitan South District Committee. The pre-march rally held under the chairmanship of CPB Dhaka Metropolitan South District Committee President Saiful Islam Sameer was addressed by Party Presidium Member Jolly Talukder, Control Commission Member Professor Dr. Abu Sayeed, District Committee General Secretary Manjur Moin, Editorial Board Members Jamshed Anwar Tapan, Tridib Saha, Members Hazrat Ali, Murshiqul Islam Shimul, among others.
CPB Presidium Member Jolly Talukder said at the rally that when the draft Agreement on Reciprocal Trade ( USART ) was being worked on, the then National Security Advisor somehow played an overzealous role in signing the agreement quickly and secretly. He had an NBR official dismissed from his job and taken away from his home after accusing him of sharing the draft USART document with some people. The then Security Advisor's overzealous and overactive role, centered on the so-called accusation of leaking the draft agreement document to an innocent government official, led to accusations of US interests being involved in him. It was strong.
Jolly Talukder also said that after the election, to everyone's surprise, she was appointed as Foreign Minister in the new cabinet and announced that both the Leader of the National Assembly and the Leader of the Opposition had agreed to the US trade agreement. So far, the government party has not protested against it.
He alleged that, observing the events, it seems that important figures in the previous interim government and the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties in the current National Parliament have all together buried the national interests of Bangladesh for the economic and geopolitical interests of the United States.
At the rally, CPB Control Commission Member Professor Dr. Abu Sayeed said that the non-disclosure clauses in the US agreement have turned this agreement into an unequal and coercive bond. It is a document of subjugation, by signing which the previous interim government has dissolved the sovereignty of Bangladesh. US President Trump's expert team unilaterally drafted this agreement and the Bangladesh government signed it obediently, without any kind of discrimination.
He further said, the essence of the US trade agreement is that Bangladesh will not be able to trade internationally with any other party independently. It will not be able to enter into any agreement with anyone without the permission of the United States. It will be obliged to import raw materials for export-oriented products, including agricultural and food products, from the United States. It will not be able to access any source other than the United States for importing energy. He said, the previous interim government had no jurisdiction to make this agreement. As a result, the agreement must be canceled before it comes into effect.
The march pledged to build a larger nationwide movement if the unequal trade agreement with the United States is not immediately canceled.
During the march, street meetings were held at Paltan intersection, Shaheed Noor Hossain Square, Ramna Bhaban, Fulbaria Terminal, Nawabpur intersection, and Gulistan.