New left-aligned platform 'Network for People's Action' launched with 101-member committee
The platform said it aims to mobilise grassroots movements and work towards radical political and social reforms.
A new left-aligned political platform, Network for People's Action (NPA), was formally launched today at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, with its leaders pledging to build a new political structure free from muscle power, extremism, and patronage-based politics.
The launch event, held at 4pm, announced a 101-member central committee and named three spokespersons for the platform. They are author Ferdous Ara Rumee, former coordinator of the Students Against Discrimination Nazifa Jannat and author Tuhin Khan.
According to the platform, NPA will operate based on five core principles- democracy, equality, human dignity, social justice, and the protection of life, nature, and the environment.
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The platform said it aims to mobilise grassroots movements and work towards radical political and social reforms.
They outline their draft political manifesto during the event.
Speaking about its goals, NPA leaders said the party seeks to emerge as a political force that can take Bangladesh's democratic transformation to its "logical conclusion" and play a leading role in the struggle for equality, human dignity, and social justice.
They stressed that there would be no place in the platform for coercion, occupation-based politics, or extremist groups.
Earlier, Anik Roy, a key organiser of the platform and a former joint convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP), told The Business Standard, "Our primary struggle is a generational fight."
Anik, also a former general secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra Union, said, "We had hoped to pursue this through the NCP, but as it moved in a traditional direction, we decided to form a new initiative with those of us who had no established base."
Other prominent figures associated with the platform include former Chhatra Union president Baki Billah, writer and researcher Mir Hojaifa Al Mamduh, Chhatra Union's Dhaka University branch President Meghmallar Bosu, and General Secretary Main Ahmed.
The programme began with the national anthem and concluded with a rendition of the patriotic song "Muktir Mandir Sopanotole."
The platform also announced that membership registration would begin today, adding that discussions around forming the initiative started nearly a year ago, with several names considered before finalising Network for People's Action.
