National Krishok Shakti launched with Saeed Ujjwal as convener

Highlights:

• Saeed Ujjwal named convener; Ghulam Mortuza Selim made member secretary.
• Organisation unveils a 14-point charter calling for constitutional recognition of farmers and fair pricing for agricultural produce.
• Leaders say farmers should have greater representation in policymaking.

National Krishok Shakti was formally launched as the farmers' wing of the National Citizen Party (NCP), alongside the announcement of its partial central convening committee aimed at working for farmers' rights.

Saeed Ujjwal was named convener, while agriculturist Ghulam Mortuza Selim was appointed member secretary. Nafiul Islam was made chief organiser. Advocate Fakhruddin Ahmed Zaki and Md Abdul Aziz were appointed senior joint conveners, while Mojibur Rahman Khokon and Md Rakibul Hasan Rana were made senior joint member secretaries.

The organisation was launched at a farmers' rally held at Togorai Hat High School in Kurigram Sadar on 16 July, a venue associated with Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani.

NCP Convener and Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam announced the partial committee at the event.

The rally was chaired by Kurigram-2 MP and NCP Joint Convener Dr Atik Mujahid and moderated by Ghulam Mortuza Selim. NCP Member Secretary and MP Akhtar Hossain addressed the gathering as the chief speaker. Mother of July martyr Rajib, Jannatul Ferdous, and July movement participant Ariful Islam also spoke at the programme.

Reading out the organisation's declaration, Convener Saeed Ujjwal said National Krishok Shakti would move forward with the slogan "Krishoker Shokti, Jatiyo Mukti" (Farmers' Strength, National Liberation).

He said farmers are not merely food producers but also the foundation of Bangladesh's economy and one of the country's principal political forces.

Referring to the Indigo Revolt, the Fakir-Sannyasi Rebellion, Titumir's Bamboo Fort movement, the Tonk Movement, the Krishak Praja Party, the Tebhaga Movement, and Maulana Bhashani's peasant politics, he said these historical struggles centred on land ownership, production rights, and farmers' dignity in the state.

However, he said that after independence, farmers were gradually pushed away from the centre of politics and confined only to production.

Ujjwal said responsibility for ensuring the country's food security rests with farmers, yet they have no effective representation in formulating agricultural, market, pricing, or land policies.

He further said Bangladesh's economy stands on three major labour forces; the labour of farmers in the fields, the labour of migrant workers, most of whom are farmers' sons, and the labour of garment workers, many of whom are farmers' daughters.

These three groups, he said, are the principal pillars of foreign exchange earnings, food security, and the national economy, yet rural farming communities remain among the most neglected in state policies and political power structures.

At the rally, Member Secretary Ghulam Mortuza Selim presented a 14-point Farmers' Rights Charter, calling for constitutional recognition of farmers as a political community and national force, effective political representation at national and local levels, and fair pricing for agricultural products based on production costs, labour, and reasonable profit.

The charter also demanded direct government procurement of farm produce, effective measures against market syndicates and middlemen, universal agricultural insurance to compensate for climate-related losses, region-based agricultural policies covering haor, coastal, char, hill, Barind, and floodplain areas, and stronger protection of indigenous seeds to reduce dependence on multinational companies.

It further called for affordable access to quality seeds, fertilisers, irrigation, electricity, diesel, and agricultural machinery, strict action against adulterated farm inputs, establishment of modern cold storage facilities, warehouses, collection centres, and processing units, and a state-supported marketing system enabling farmers to sell directly in the market.