3 left parties vow to fight fundamentalism

The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) yesterday held a series of meetings with the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu) in the morning and the Gonotantri Party (GP) in the evening at the CPB central office.

The three parties agreed to work closely in future movements against the government's freewheel retrenchment of workers and employees and divestment of state-owned enterprises.

"These were just the beginning of a process to shape up a third alternative political current beyond the Bangladesh Nationalist Party- Awami League polarisation," Mujahidul Islam Selim, general secretary of the CPB, told The Daily Star after the two meetings.

Earlier, the CPB had a series of meetings with the Workers Party. The CPB leaders were optimistic about holding similar meetings with other left-leaning parties in near future.

Asked whether they would go for common political programmes, Selim said, "We'll render support to each other's programmes. We may arrange common programmes too to protect the interests of the people in the face of rise in fundamentalism and imperialism."

Selim, Monjurul Ahsan Khan, Shahidullah Chowdhury, MM Akash, Morshed Ali, Ruhin Hossain Prince, Mahbub Alam and Sazzad Zahir represented the CPB at the meetings while Hasanul Haq Inu, Jafar Sazzad, Moinuddin Khan Badal, Mir Hossain Akhter, Robiul Alam, Monsur Ahmed and Azizur Rahman represented the JSD-Inu in the meeting and Ahmedul Kabir led the GP delegation in the other meeting.