President of the Barisal District Unit of the Bangladesh Krishok Federation, Shukkur Ahmed, presided over the rally while Comrade Badrul Alam, President of the Central Committee of the Bangladesh Krishok Federation, General Secretary Zayed Iqbal Khan, Central President of the Bangladesh Kishani Sabha, Ms. Shamsunnahar Khan Doli, President of the Barisal District Unit of the Kishani Sabha, Ms. Runa Laila Sonali, Ms. Setara Begum, Ms. Selina Begum, Ms. Happy Akhter, Ms. Kohinur Begum, farmer leader Md. Zaman Akon, Md. Shahid Hossain, Mrinal Kanti Biswas, Md. Insan Howlader , among others, spoke as the chief guests.

Comrade Badrul Alam, President of Bangladesh Krishok Federation, in his speech as the chief guest, praised the participation and role of the people of Barisal in the July-36 (August 5 uprising) student-people’s movement, and said that although the country has been free from tyranny, the beneficiaries of tyranny are still roaming in different parts of the country. He expressed his hope that the people of Barisal have been playing a fighting role in any crisis of the nation since the distant British era. The organizational activities of Bangladesh Krishok Federation have been carried out in Barisal since the seventies of the last century. One of the successes of the work of the Krishok Federation in Barisal is the occupation and settlement of the landless in Rasulpur Khas Char in 1996. The landless have faced various adversities including oppression, torture, eviction drive, and conspiracies of local influential people, and have maintained their position in the Char even today. But it is very sad that a small group of self-interested people has often tried to divert the landless people’s movement in a different direction.

Comrade Badrul Alam called upon the members of the organization at all levels of Barisal to take forward the organizational work at a rapid pace, keeping a special eye on the subversive activities of vested groups seeking opportunities in the localities. He said that as a result of the constructive and systematic land movement of the Krishok Federation, thousands of men and women of the country have been living on about 76 thousand acres of Khasland and public land. This land movement is dedicated to the helpless landless, small farmers, agricultural workers and farmers of the country. He called upon the Krishok Federation and Kishani Sabha to build a strong movement on the soil of Barisal as the center for the above-mentioned 5-point demands.
Above all, he called upon the responsible northern rich countries to provide compensation to the people of the coastal regions affected by the impact of global climate change. He strongly demanded the government to introduce farmers’ food sovereignty and environmental friendly farming - agroecology.
Bangladesh Kishani Sabha President Dr. Shamsunnahar Dolly mentioned in her speech that the farmers have always played a leading and progressive role in the Khasland movement. She expressed hope that the farmers will play a responsible role in the future as well. Strongly condemning and protesting the false case filed by Sadar Police Station against Runa Laila Sonali, President of Kishani Sabha Barisal District Unit, she demanded that she be released from the case after a proper investigation.

Bangladesh Krishok Federation Central General Secretary Zayed Iqbal Khan said that no group can disrupt the struggle of the farmers and landless people by making special plots. At certain stages and ages in the movement, vested interests have been born. Over time, they have also disappeared. He strongly condemned and protested the false case filed by Sadar Police Station against Sanjeev Singh Barman, General Secretary of Barisal District Unit of Bangladesh Krishok Federation.
The local leaders pledged to build a strong movement for the interests of the landless people and said that such a systematic movement will be held in Barisal that all the evil forces will be swept away in the Bay of Bengal. They made a fervent demand to the current interim government to accept the above five-point demands.
BKF, BKS