Badrul Alam, was elected President of Bangladesh Krishok Federation (BKF), the largest peasant federation in Bangladesh. He has served on the international leadership of La Via Campesina representing the BKF. He is also a leader of a revolutionary socialist organisation in Bangladesh collaborating with the Fourth International. The BKF are heavily involved in campaigning against climate change. They have organised a series of climate caravans to take the message out to large numbers of people both across Bangladesh itself and more widely to other parts of Asia.
Like comrades in the Philippines, a central part of that work is the promotion of food sovereignty as a sustainable alternative to agribusiness – hence their relationship with Via Campesina, the international peasants movement. They were also involved in work around the Rana Plazza disaster – many of the super-exploited women workers in Dhaka are climate refugees forced to leave the rural villages from which they come by rising sea levels and salinification.
Badrul Alam is touring Britain for two weeks at the beginning of March to talk about these issues. As extreme weather has been hitting Britain over recent weeks the tour could hardly be more timely:
Central London meeting: Tuesday 4 March
7:30 pm, 62 Marchmont Street,
WC1N 1AB, Kings Cross tube
Speakers:
Badrul Alam, President of Bangladesh Krishok Federation, the country’s largest peasant federation.
Ashok Kumar, recently organiser for the International Union League for Brand Responsibility in Bangalore.
Derek Wall, founder of Ecosocialist International and Green Left, International Coordinator of the Green Party.
Organised by Socialist Resistance