Blog

Scrap the Rampal Power Plant project, Save the Sundarbans

As the government of Bangladesh suggests that the destructive deal with India cannot be scrapped due to delicate conditions of the contract, the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port in Bangladesh has written the following open letter to Indian Prime Minister. We believe that the Prime Minister of India can and should act promptly to halt …

Protesters Call To DE-LIST Global Coal Management PLC.From London Stock Exchange

PHULBARI DAY VIGIL TURNS INTO HEATED DEMO By Paul Dudman   Friday the 26th August, marked a decade of halt to plans by an AIM-listed British company, Global Coal Resources Management (GCM), who want to build a massive open cast coal mine by forcibly displacing 130,000 people in Phulbari, northwest Bangladesh. A four day long Commemoration for victims of Phulbari …

Mark the Decade of Resistance, Mark Phulbari Day!

Celebrating 10 years of Halt to Open Cast Mining, Commemorating the lives of brave Villagers What? RED Vigil at London Stock Exchange  When? 11am to 1pm on Friday, 26 August 2016 Where? London Stock Exchange HQ for International Trading , 10 Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7LS  (nearest tube station: St Paul’s) Find Map   Friday, the 26th of August marks …

Fascist attack on peaceful march in Bangladesh, Solidarity from London and across the earth to save the Sunderbans

200 mangrove marchers brutally charged by police in Dhaka 16 unarmed protesters seriously injured Six frontline defenders and NCBD leaders imprisoned Cops foiled public statement to cancel dark deal over world’s largest mangrove By Rumana Hashem and Raj Manik As you might have awaited update from Thursday’s public march against the destructive Rampal coal-power plant, we are in the process …

It is time for Global Day of Action against Vedanta

Phulbari Solidarity Group extends unconditional solidarity with Foil Vedanta in their fight against notorious Vedanta. Foil Vedanta, a campaign group against extractive corporation, has produced invaluable reports on mining effected areas in India and Afrika, and global trade of metals by notorious multinational company, Vedanta. We will join Foil Vedanta on their annual Global Day of Action at Vedanta’s AGM …

Bashkhali Tragedy: Loopholes behind the story of Coal Shooting

FILED VISIT and REPORT BY A BANGLADESHI FEMINIST-ANTHROPOLOGIST AND FILM MAKER  REPRODUCED FROM NewsBangladesh.com By Nasrin Siraj A team of 13 leaders and activists of Chittagong chapter of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port visited, on April 6, Gondamara union under Bashkhali upazila in Chittagong district where four unarmed villagers were killed allegedly in …

Nationwide protests against Bashkhali Tragedy: Criminals for Coal-shooting Must be Prosecuted

Press statement by National Committee in Bangladesh has released the following statement on Bashkhali killing on 8th April 2016  “We demand exemplary punishment for the persons responsible for killing innocent people. We also demand to scrap projects with irregularities, corruption, and threat to human livelihoods and environment including coal fired power plants in Bashkhali and Rampal.” “Being a close ally …

‘The Sundarbans Declaration 2016’ by the National Committee of Bangladesh

Translated By Tanmoy Karmokar   Following a three-day nationwide long march to the Sundarbans, held between 10th to 13th March, 2016 by demanding a capping of all breeds of devastative – mischeivious activities surrounding the Sundarbans, including the Rampal and Orion coal-based power projects, the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral resources, Port and Power in Bangladesh has declared …

Bangladeshi Protesters served notice of closure to British coal mining company

11 months old Usha says NO to Coal Mine, GCM receives warning at AGM   By Raaj Manik OFFICIAL NOTICE to GCM RESORUCES FROM PHULBARI PROTESTERS AND PEOPLE Effective Immediately Friday, 18 December at 10:30am|4 Hamilton Place | London W1J 7BQ This is to notify the London-based company, Global Coal Management Resources Plc., formerly known as Asia Energy, is coming …

GCM IS COMING DOWN!

Action Demo in London to Save PHULBARI & Green-Farm Land Friday, 18 December at 10:30am, 4 Hamilton Place,  London W1J 7BQ (nearest tube station Hyde Park Corner) In the month of the climate summit #COP21, when climate protests erupted across the globe seeking climate justice, a London-based AIM-listed multinational company, Global Coal Management Resources Plc. , announced its AGM to …

Propaganda cannot rationalize Rampal Coal Fired Power Plant Project

Statement by National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Natural Resources, Power, Port By Rumana Hashem In response to the latest statement issued by Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company regarding Rampal Power Plant, the Convener of National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Natural Resources, Power and Port, Engr. Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah and Member Secretary Prof. Anu Muhammad jointly issued a statement. It …

UK Government Highlights Powerful Opposition to GCM’s Destructive Plan for Bangladesh Coal Mine

Victory of Phulbari Once Again! The UK government has published a statement yesterday that highlights the fierce opposition to British company GCM Resources’ plans for a massive open cast coal mine in Phulbari, north-west Bangladesh. The statement notes that protestors are “calling strikes, blockading roads and occupying the company’s local offices”. The statement by the UK National Contact Point also …

Homage paid to Brave Protesters in Phulbari

By Raaj Manik It was Phulbari Day on Thursday. It was the day to commemorate mass protests that prevented a UK-based mining company, Global Coal Management PLC, from building a large-scale open-pit coal mine in Phulbari in north-west Bangladesh. Nine years ago, on 26th August in 2006, three brave protesters were shot dead in the mass protest that took place …

Govt says ‘no’ to open-pit mine in Bangladesh

Another day of victory for Phulbari, another day of loss for Global Coal Management On Sunday, 23 August, 2015 Bangladesh’s state minister for energy and mineral resources stated that there is no hope for any mining company to extract coal from the coal deposits of Northwest Bangladesh in Phulbari. In a published report yesterday, the country’s national daily newspapers reported …

Phulbari Solidarity Group Joined Global Demo against Vedanta in London

On 3rd August 2015, the world has witnessed another successful year of global actions against notorious mining company Vedanta. Monday’s eight global protests against Vedanta was a very successful day in London and around India and Afrika. The London AGM of Vedanta 2015 was disturbed by the drumming and chanting outside and questions about pollution in Zambia, illegal mining in …

Massive human chain against open-pit mine, GCM’s consultant , RWE, in Germany

On Saturday, 25 April, A mass action held in Germany, with over 6000 people coming together to create a 7.5 km human chain that passed through deserted villages in western Germany’s Rhineland to the open cast Garzweiler coal mine owned by  the German utility company RWE. The chain is to protest RWE’s planned expansion of the mine and passed through  …

A new OECD Guidelines case on the Sendou coal-fired power plant in Senegal

SENDOU COAL POWER PLANT COMPLAINT AGAINST NYKOMB SYNERGETICS FOR NON COMPLIANCE WITH THE OECD GUIDELINES FOR MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES Lumière Synergie pour le Développement (LSD) and Takkom Jerry Plyvalence Culturelle et Environnmentale have filed complaints at the Swedish National Contact Point (NCP) against the company Nykomb Synergetics AB, which has contracted with the government of Senegal in 2009 for the construction …

The Global System for Holding Corporations to Account Is in Need of Serious Reform

Christine Haigh wrote about how UK’s National Contact Point failed to hold corporations responsible for unethical business in Bangladesh and elsewhere Article is Reproduced from The Guardian Global Development Professional Network  A British company plans to build a huge coal mine, stating in its plans that it says will displace more than 40,000 people. It will destroy over 14,000 acres …

Phulbari Solidarity Group Stood with Activists at National Climate March in London

Rumana Hashem Declared Solidarity with Thousands Demanding ‘its Time to Act’ By Raaj Manik After joining the protest on Global Divestment Day at City Hall, activists of Phulbari solidarity group joined the UK’s national climate march, expressing full solidarity to the agenda of the Campaign against Climate Change (CCC). On Saturday the 7th March, in the sea of vibrant, peaceful, …

Save the Sundarbans Save Our Mangrove Forest: Join the Global Movement

By Rumana Hashem The Sundarbans mangrove forest is struggling to survive a 350,000 liter oil spill. On 9 December 2014, the oil tanker carrying more than 350,000 liters (92,500 gallons) of bunker oil sank on a major river, called Shela, flowing through the Sundarbans after being hit by a cargo vessel. Its been nearly two months and the threats are yet to …

In defence of national and environmental interest

By Samina Luthfa, 18 January 2015 Phulbari is not a controversy. It is the name and symbol of a successful resistance by community people threatened with displacement by a proposed open-pit coal mine by GCM Resources in 5,600 hectares of land (including arable land with high cropping intensity) in four thanas of Dinajpur. Open mining requires stripping off the soil …

Challenging the Invisible and Invalid Contract

Response to ‘Farewell to FDI?’ Reproduced op-ed from the Daily Star   By Kallol Mustafa, 20 January, 2015 The op-ed piece (‘Farewell to FDI?’,The Daily Star, Jan 13, 2015) is based on some misleading and partial information regarding Asia Energy’s (GCM) Phulbari Coal Project and the peoples’ protest against it. The writer termed the peoples’ protest against Asia Energy chief’s …

Meet demands or face blockade programme on 7 February 2015

Declaration of Phulbari Grand Rally By Kallol Mustafa, 30 December, 2014 National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports at a rally at Nimtola in Phulbari upazila under the district yesterday warned of tough programmes if their demands were not met within January 31 of the year ahead. The demands include arrest of Gary Lye, chief executive …

Demo raged in London at British coal company GCM

Noise-Demo, Drumming, Coal Play and Interrogation at GCM’s AGM AGM Disrupted by Protesters’ Interrogation Protesters Demand Arrest of Gary Lye and De-listing of GCM from London AIM by Raaj Manik, 10 December  2014 Yesterday, Bangladeshi activists in conjunction with a diverse group of environmental and left political activists in London, heckled the investors of Global Coal Management Resources by their …

Surround GCM! Surround the Dirty Coal Miners!

Manifesto of the Demo against the Dirty Coal Miners of Asia Energy/GCM 2014 Tuesday, 9 December, 2014. London Today we, the activists from Bangladesh,  East London, the Borough of Tower Hamlets, and London’s environmental organisations, have gathered to call upon the AIM-listed London-based multinational company, GCM Resources Plc, to end its unethical business. The company, GCM Resources, is desperately moving …

Let’s Stop the Coal Thieves: Phulbari Demo in London

by Golam Rabbani, 9 December, 2014 In a cold morning on a week day in December, the Bangladeshi community of London in conjunction with a diverse group of environmental and left political activists heckled the investors of Asia Energy (thereafter Global Coal Management Resources) today. In a successful demonstration outside GCM’s Annual General Meeting at London Aeronautical Society, 4 Hamilton …

Public Meeting in London with Professor Anu Muhammad

Corporate Grabbing and Plundering of Resources in Bangladesh: Who Runs the Country  – Government or the Greedy Monsters On the 28th of September 2014, Professor Anu Muhammad, the member secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Port-Power and Mineral Resources in Bangladesh, has delivered a keynote speech in a Public Meeting about ‘Corporate Grabbing and Plundering of  Common …

Surround GCM! Surround the Dirty Coal Miners! Flyer for Demo 2014

Surround GCM! Surround the Dirty Coal Miners! Action to Save Lives and to Halt the Devastating Phulbari Coal Project Tuesday, 9 December 2014 at 10:30am-12pm Venue: 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1J 7BQ An AIM-listed London-based multinational company, GCM Resources Plc, is desperately moving to implement an immense open pit coal mine in northwest Bangladesh, forcibly displacing an estimated 130, 000 …

UK urges GCM Resources to assess human rights impact of Bangladesh coal mine

Today, Thursday, 20th Nov 2014, the UK government has urged British company GCM Resources to assess how its planned coal mine in Bangladesh would affect the human rights of local people, and has condemned the company for breaching international guidelines on ethical corporate behaviour. Its findings, released today, state that the project “has aroused considerable opposition in Bangladesh, leading to …

Feasibility study on Barapukuria open-pit mining sent back

The Independent news on Barapukuria reproduced below  by Raaj Manik Wednesday, 19 November 2014 Author / Source: SHAHNAJ BEGUM The authorities of the Barapukuria Coal Mine Company (BCMC) have rejected the feasibility study report of the Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) on open-pit mining at Barapukuria North, as it did not match the study’s “terms of reference (TOR)”. “The study …

Struggle and Resistance, NOT Submission

Verdict in London meeting about Corporate Plundering of the Energy and Power Sector in Bangladesh By Raaj Manik On a sunny Sunday, the 28th of September 2014, the Bangladeshi community organisers and environmental campaigners have made it explicit once again that Bangladeshis will not tolerate any corporate plundering of the Energy and Power Sector in Bangladesh. In a packed meeting …

Public meeting on the Plundering of the Energy and Power Sector in Bangladesh by British Corporations

The Committee to Protect Oil-Gas- Mineral Resources in Bangladesh, The UK Branch  invites everyone to join a public meeting with a distinguished economist and environmentalist Professor Anu Muhammad, who comes to London from Bangladesh to meet the activists in London this Sunday. What: Public meeting on Corporate Plundering of the Energy and Power Sector in Bangladesh When: Sunday the 28th …

Phulbari Day 2014 observed in Phulbari

The translated version of the NCBD press statement by Samina Luthfa On 26th August 2014, the 8th anniversary of the Phulbari Mass uprising has been observed countrywide with the following slogan: ‘There is no place for the betrayers on the streets of Phulbari drenched with the blood of our martyrs’. Daylong programmes were observed in Phulbari that included mourning procession, …

New Video on India/Bangladesh Exchange Initiative!

We would like to take this opportunity to forward some news in relation to the  India/Bangladesh exchange initiative. Our very trustworthy friends at the International Accountability Project (IAP) were working on this initiative with some admirable videographers at Mediafire for the last several months. With thanks to IAP and some very devoted film makers, we have the pleasure to let …

‘Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the energy ministry to wait for ‘new technology’ before going for coal extraction’

‘Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the energy ministry to wait for ‘new technology’ before going for coal extraction’ Wait for ‘new technology’: PM Stressing the need to protect arable land, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the energy ministry to wait for ‘new technology’ before going for coal extraction. She also outlined the ministry’s future challenges and ways to …

Protests at GCM Resources AGM over Phulbari coal mine

Protests at GCM Resources AGM over Phulbari coal mine By Raaj Manik, 5 December 2013 A noisy and powerful protest was held outside the AGM of London-based mining company GCM Resources, on 4 December, over the company’s proposed Phulbari coal mine in Bangladesh, which if it goes ahead will displace an estimated 130,000 people and will pose threats  to the …

Phulbari Demo at GCM AGM

Destroying Communities and Damaging Environment NO MINE in PHULBARI Call out for Action against GCM Resources plc. Wednesday, 04 December 2013 at 10am-12pm Venue: 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1J 7BQ GCM Resources plc, an AIM-listed UK-based multinational company, supported by major hedge funds and banks including UBS, Credit Suisse, LR Global, and Argos Greater Europe Fund, wants to implement a …

Indian people’s movements and civil society call upon Modi to withdraw India’s support from Rampal Coal-Power Project

  Following the ongoing human rights violation of the National Committee activists and front-line organisers against Rampal coal-fired plant in Bangladesh, many concerned Indian green and human rights organisations have written an open letter to the Prime Minister of India to withdraw support from the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company, thereafter the destructive Rampal Power Project.  The letter signed by 43 …

Klimacamp Solidarity Statement on Phulbari Hearing Day

Today when 26 Phulbari  activists have been faced with trial and GCM’s corrupt CEO, Gary Lye and Asia Energy gangs, filed multiple arbitrary cases against Phulbari people in Dinajpur Magistrate Court, a beautiful and powerful message of solidarity came from Rhineland Klima Camp to Phulbari Solidairty Group in support of both the brave activists in Phulbari and the save Sunderbans …

Be There! We Are Coming to Your Door This Saturday!

Sundarbans, the World’s Largest Mangrove Forest is Under Attack. Save the Sundarbans and Stop Coal Fired Rampal Power Plant. Recently, the Government of Bangladesh has signed an agreement with India’s state run Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd to set up a coal fired 1320 MW power plant on the edge of the world’s biggest heritage-listed mangrove forest, the Sundarbans. Rampal power …

When will Vedanta be ashamed for their misdeeds?

A personal reflection on notorious Vedanta’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2016 Rumana Hashem Last Friday we saw fantastic global actions against a British mining company, called the Vedanta Resources, who attempted to hold their Annual General Meeting in London but ended up being interrogated by dissident shareholders. The British mining company, Vedanta Resources, is known as notorious for abuse and …

Protest against Destructive Rampal Power Plant this Thursday

By Rumana Hashem Despite nationwide protests and international campaigns against the controversial coal power plant in Rampal, Bangladeshi government has approved India‘s NTPC proposed Rampal power plant which, if implemented, will destroy the world’s largest mangrove, the Sundarbans. Bangladeshi and Indian governments have signed a destructive deal in July, the month of International Mangrove Action, when the world is supposed …