A public rally was held today at Shyampur Sugar Mills Limited (SSML) mill-gate demanding relaunch of all closed sugar mills, reinstatement of workers and payment of arrears and protection of sugarcane farmers. Shyampur unit of Sugarcane Farmers' and Sugarcane Rakhya Sangram Parishad (SFSRSP) organised the rally participated by hundreds of sugarcane farmers, former workers and employees of SSML, leaders and activists of different rights organisations. Former Chairman of Chandanpat union parishad and convener of Shyampur unit of SFSRSP Mokbul Hossain presided over the rally moderated by Member-secretary of Rangpur district unit of BASOD (Marxist) Ahsanul Arefin Titu. Member of Sugar Mills Reopening Task Force Committee and Central Committee Vice-president of Bangladesh Labor and Employees Federation Manas Nandi and President of Labor Movement Harunar Rashid Bhuiyan addressed the rally. Garments Oikko Forum President Moshrefa Mishu, President of Bangladesh Sugarcane farmers' Union National Commit tee Ansar Ali Dulal, Labor Federation Bangladesh General Secretary Shamim Imam, and Convener of Rangpur district unit of SFSRSP Anwar Hossain Bablu spoke. Former general secretary of SSML employees' union Mamtazul Alam Mostafa, Member-secretary of Setabganj Sugar Mills re-operation movement council Ismail Hossain and young sugarcane farmer Rabbi Hossain also spoke. Mokbul Hossain said the SSML has been closed for nearly five years as a result of the anti-public decision of the fascist Awami League government led by ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. "SSML was the source of livelihood of thousands of sugarcane farmers, hundreds of laborers and people of various professions of the whole Shyampur sugarcane zone," he said. Ahsanul Arefin Titu said the economy of the region has severely suffered due to the closure of the SSML. "So this sugar mill should be re-launched immediately to save the people of the whole Shyampur sugarcane zone in the greater Rangpur region," he said. The other spea kers said that the fascist Awami League government collapsed through the immense sacrifice of the anti-discrimination student-people movement across the country. It is the moral and imperative duty of the present interim government to cancel the anti-public decision of that ousted fascist government to close SSML and to open the sugar mill as soon as possible, they said. Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha
