A new political platform, the Red Feminist Bloc, formally launched in Dhaka on June 13, describing itself as a feminist political organization committed to building a democratic system centered on workers, peasants, Indigenous peoples, women, and queer communities rather than elite political and economic interests.
The organization made its public debut at the World Literature Center in Banglamotor through a program marking 30 years since the disappearance of Indigenous women’s rights activist Kalpana Chakma. Speakers at the event linked the launch of the platform to ongoing struggles against militarization, gender-based violence, state repression, and the denial of Indigenous rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
During the event, members presented a political manifesto outlining demands that included autonomy and self-determination for Indigenous peoples in the hills and plains, equal inheritance rights regardless of gender, free education and healthcare, national minimum wages based on living costs, land rights for farmers, social protections for older people, and an end to gender-based discrimination and violence. The organization also called for mandatory representation of women, queer people, workers, farmers, and Indigenous communities in democratic institutions.
Members of the platform described their politics as feminist, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, and internationalist. The manifesto argues that gender liberation cannot be separated from broader struggles against class exploitation, patriarchy, racial oppression, religious discrimination, and economic inequality. It also calls for the socialization of domestic labor and structural transformation of existing economic and political systems.
The Red Feminist Bloc has not announced a formal leadership committee. Organizers stated that the platform brings together students, educators, activists, professionals, and human rights advocates seeking to build a feminist political movement grounded in social justice, collective liberation, and democratic transformation.
Source: Prothom Alo