Leaders of different left-leaning political parties on Monday urged the government to take immediate steps to scrap the trade deal signed with the United States during the tenure of the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

They made the call at separate rallies in Dhaka and termed the deal ‘unequal’ and contrary to the national interests of Bangladesh.

The Jaiya Ganatantrik Front, at its rally in front of the National Press Club, also protested against the recent fuel price hike.

Its general secretary and labour leader Chowdhury Ashiqul Alam called on the government to immediately scrap the ‘unequal’ trade deal with the US to protect the country’s sovereignty.

Presiding over the rally, its president M Jahangir Hossain urged the government to withdraw the recent fuel price hike, saying it would increase transport fares and the prices of essential commodities.

As a result, common people would suffer significantly, he said.

The organisation’s central leaders Prokash Datta, Mohammad Yesin, and Shahjahan Kabir, among others, also spoke.

The rally was followed by a protest procession that paraded different city roads.

Leaders of the Anti-imperialist and Anti-war Alliance, a combine of 13 left parties, at a separate protest rally in front of the Bangladesh National Museum in the capital’s Shahbagh area, also demanded the scrapping of the ‘unequal’ trade deal with the US.

The organisation will hold a march towards Parliament on April 27 to press home its demands, said the alliance’s coordinator, Bazlur Rashid Firoz.

Alliance leaders Abdullah Al Kafee Ratan, Belal Chowdhury, Nazrul Islam, and Rajat Huda, among others, also spoke.

The rally was followed by a procession that ended in front of New Market, where leaflets were distributed among passers-by in support of the programmes.