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Published : 09 Feb 2026, 12:56 AM
Leaders of the Chittagong Port Protection Struggle Council have said the strike at the port will continue until the Chittagong Port Authority withdraws the punitive measures taken against some protesters.
They said the authorities must withdraw the cases filed against some of them and revoke orders that transferred others as punishment and cancelled their residence allocations.
The announcement to continue the strike came in a statement issued by the council at 9pm on Sunday.
“We have already learnt that 14 of our employees have been temporarily suspended. We demand authorities stop and cancel autocratic decisions to harass protesters. The authoritarian attitude is the main obstacle to postponing our programme,” the statement read.
Humayun Kabir, a coordinator of the council, said that they were targeted with hostile decisions right at the moment they were planning to withdraw their strike in respect of the month of Ramadan so that the people could observe the religious month.
But authorities are not “cooperating” with us, he said, citing the decision to cancel housing allocations and file complaints with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
“There is no reason to think we will act to fulfill authorities’ wishes,” Humayun said.
The council statement comes amid the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) chief Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud bin Harun announcing that the interim government would not sign the deal of operating the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) at the port with DP World.
The workers’ protests, which included work stoppage from 8am, began with four demands, including the government’s decision to move away from the decision to sign the NCT lease deal with the foreign company.
BIDA chief Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud bin Harun on Sunday said the lease agreement with DP World will not take place during the interim government’s tenure.
The BIDA executive chairman said such an agreement could be made after the elections, under a political government.
After the BIDA announcement, the CPA cancelled housing allocations for 15 employees who joined protests against leasing. Humayun Kabir is reportedly among the 15 employees who lost their housing allocations.
Workers began a strike on Jan 31 under the banner of the BNP aligned labour wing.
From the next day, protests continued under the council.
Port authorities have already transferred 16 employees involved in the movement.
Leaders of the council also alleged that law-enforcing agencies “picked up” at least six of their activists.
