Phulbari Day today

The national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports will observe Phulbari Day today.

The police this day in 2006 fired into residents rallying against open-pit mining at Phulbari in Dinajpur. Three were killed.

The committee organised the rally in protest at the then BNP-led alliance government’s plan for coal extraction from the Phulbari mine in an open-pit method by multinational company Asia Energy.

Open-pit mining will create a huge loss of wealth, natural resources and make a huge number of people living in the mining area homeless.

On August 30, the BNP-led alliance government signed a six-point agreement to calm the movement.

The points included expulsion of the Asia Energy from Bangladesh, cancellation of the plan for open-pit mining and punishment of the people responsible for the killing at Phulbari.

The committee’s convener Sheikh Muhammd Shaheedullah and member secretary Anu Muhammd in a statement expressed their concerns about non-implementation of the agreement by the Awami League-led government although it has been in office for two years.

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, then the leader of opposition in parliament, went to Phulbari and said her party, if voted to power, would implement the agreement.

They called on the people to observe August 26 as Phulbari Day and the government to observe the occasion as a national day. The committee has also taken up programmes to observe August 26, when the firing took place, and August 30, when the agreement was signed.

The committee will place a wreath at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka in the morning on August 26 and hold a rally at Phulbari in Dinajpur at noon which the national committee leaders will attend. The committee units will also place wreaths at shaheed minars across the country.

They will also hold programmes to observe August 30 as agreement signing day.