The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports on Saturday called a half-day hartal in Dhaka city on July 3 in protest against the production sharing contract signed with US oil company ConocoPhillips on June 16, saying that it was against the interest of the country .
The national committee's protest programmes also include countrywide demonstrations in front of deputy commissioners' offices in the districts and formation of human chains in thanas and unions from 11:00am to 12:00 noon on the day of hartal.
The member-secretary of the national committee, Anu Muhammad, at a press conference in the CPB's central office announced the six-hour hartal from 6:00am to 12:00 noon and said that Petrobangla's contract with the US company had all the provisions of the Model PSC-2008, formulated during the regime of the military-controlled government of Fakhruddin Ahmed, and was a totally one-sided deal which would only benefit the US company, not the country.
According to the contract the company will get 80 per cent of the gas extracted from Blocks 10 and 11 in the Bay of Bengal, and Bangladesh will get only 20 per cent which will be difficult to carry onshore for the nation's use, Anu added.
Moreover, the company will be allowed to convert the gas into Liquefied Natural Gas and export it to other countries.
The national committee will launch mass contact programmes from June 21 to July 1 in Dhaka city and in various parts of the country to make the people aware of the inequitable deal and drum up support for the hartal, and hold views-exchange meetings with professional bodies from June 20 to July 2.
Sheikh Muhammad Shaheedullah, the convener of the committee, said that they would announce tough agitation programmes to compel the Awami League-led government to cancel the inequitable deal and implement of the seven demands of the committee.
The programmes may include 'long marches' from Dhaka to various parts of the country and a 'Dhaka gherao' (siege) programme in October when thousands of people will march towards Dhaka city with the slogan, 'Chalo Chalo, Dhaka Chalo', said Shaheedullah.
Committee leaders Nur Muhammad, Syed Abul Maksud, Enamul Haque, Khalequzzaman, Ruhin Hossain Prince, Saiful Huq, Mosharraf Hossain Nannu, Ragib Ahsan Munna, Abdus Sattar, Mushrefa Mishu, Zonayed Saki and Khan Asaduzzaman Masum were present at the press conference, along with others.
The national committee enforced another half-day hartal in Dhaka city on 14 September, 2009 to underline the demand for cancellation of Model PSC-2008.
The leaders of three left-leaning political parties, in a separate press conference on the same day in Dhaka Reporters Unity, extended their support to the hartal and other agitation programmes announced by the national committee.
The secretary of Jatiya Mukti Council, Foyezul Hakim, read out written speech in the press conference.
The parties will stage countrywide mass contract programmes across the country from June 20 to July 1 to drum up the peoples' support for the agitation programmes.
Mukti Council's president Badruddin Umar, Nayaganatantrik Ganamorcha's convener Shibli Quayum and Jatiya Ganatantrik Ganamorcha's convener Masud Khan were present at the press conference.
Source: New Age
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