Dhaka, Bangladesh: Sugarcane farmers launched a protest at the gate of the Shyampur Sugar Mills Limited (SSML) demanding the reopening of all closed sugar mills, the reinstatement of workers, payment of overdue wages, and protection for sugarcane farmers, reports BSS News.
The rally was organized by the Shyampur unit of the Sugarcane Farmers’ and Sugarcane Protection Struggle Council (SFSRSP), drawing hundreds of sugarcane farmers, former SSML workers, and activists from various rights organizations.
Mokbul Hossain, the former chairman of Chandanpat Union Parishad and convener of the Shyampur unit of SFSRSP, led the rally, with Ahsanul Arefin Titu, member-secretary of the Rangpur district unit of BASOD (Marxist), moderating the event.
Prominent speakers included Manas Nandi, a member of the Sugar Mills Reopening Task Force and vice-president of the Bangladesh Labor and Employees Federation, and Harunar Rashid Bhuiyan, president of the Labor Movement.
Moshrefa Mishu, president of Garments Oikko Forum, Ansar Ali Dulal, president of the Bangladesh Sugarcane Farmers’ Union National Committee, and Shamim Imam, general secretary of Labor Federation Bangladesh, also addressed the rally. Additionally, Anwar Hossain Bablu, convener of the Rangpur district unit of SFSRSP, along with former SSML employees’ union leader Mamtazul Alam Mostafa and sugarcane farmer Rabbi Hossain, spoke at the event.
Mokbul Hossain criticized the government for the closure of SSML, which has been shut down for nearly five years, calling it the result of a poor decision made by the previous Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“SSML was the livelihood for thousands of sugarcane farmers and hundreds of labourers, along with many others in the Shyampur sugarcane zone,” Hossain said.
Ahsanul Arefin Titu stressed the economic hardship the region has faced due to the mill’s closure, saying, “Reopening this sugar mill is essential to saving the people of the Shyampur sugarcane zone in the greater Rangpur region.”
Other speakers emphasized that it is the responsibility of the current interim government to reverse the previous administration’s decision to close SSML, urging immediate action to reopen the mill and restore livelihoods.
