Anu Muhammad accuses govt of ‘betrayal’ over Chattogram Port deal

Economist and former Jahangirnagar University professor Anu Muhammad has strongly criticised the government over the concession agreement signed between the Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) and Netherlands-based APM Terminals.

In a Facebook post on Monday (November 17), he alleged that the deal was done with “secrecy, lack of transparency and unnecessary haste,” claiming it serves foreign companies and “local vested groups.”

According to him, the government will be “remembered in history as a betrayer” for approving the agreement in such a manner.

Anu Muhammad also said political parties close to the government, yet silent on what he called a “nationally harmful deal,” would not be able to escape responsibility.

In another post, he questioned the timing* of the agreement, noting that the port deal signing at 10.00am and the verdict in the case against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 11.00am on the same day appeared “calculated.”

He added that the government fast-tracked the process without allowing any public discussion, even as police issued shoot-on-sight instructions against arsonists and crude-bomb attackers the day before.

The CPA has already signed a 30-year concession agreement with APM Terminals BV to design, finance, build and operate the Laldia Container Terminal under a PPP model. The signing ceremony was chaired by PPP Authority CEO Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun.

On the same day, the tribunal delivered its verdict in the July uprising crimes against humanity case, handing death sentences to Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, while another accused Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun received five years in jail.

The main accused, former PM Sheikh Hasina, is currently in India. Security has been tightened across Dhaka with deployment of the army, Rab, police and BGB.

The backdrop includes recent arson incidents and orders from Dhaka and Chattogram Metropolitan Police to open fire on perpetrators—directives that have drawn concern from human rights groups, who argue that such instructions violate constitutional norms.

Against this context, Anu Muhammad questioned the government’s intent, the lack of transparency in the port deal, and the timing of key decisions. “Those calling for reforms should have spoken up,” he wrote, adding that the rushed approach raises serious doubts.