At least 50 people, including 10 policemen, were injured as readymade garments (RMG) workers staged demonstrations and clashed with the police in Jamgarah, Zirabo, Ghosbagh Narasinghapur, Nishchintapur, Pukurpar, Jamgarah and Shimultala areas of Ashulia on Monday.
The workers were demanding that the new minimum wage of Tk. 5,300, recommended by the wage board, be implemented as soon as possible.
Sensing trouble and fearing massive vandalism, the owners of more than 50 factories located at Narasinghapur, Nishchintapur, Zirabo, Pukurpar, Jamgarah and Shimultala of Ashulia, and Hemayetpur, Ulail and Rajphulbaira of Savar, stopped their production on Monday and announced a general holiday.
“The authorities have already deployed two platoons of Border Guard of Bangladesh (BGB) to avert any untoward incident,” assistant superintendent of police (Savar Circle) Mohammad Rasel Sheikh, also injured in the clash, told The Independent.
According to witnesses, hundreds of workers of Pride Group, HR Textile Limited Standard Groups and Anlima yearn Dying Limited downed tools and staged demonstrations, demanding immediate implementation of the new recommendation given by the wage board around 8:30 am.
The agitated workers brought out a protest rally and marched towards the neighbouring factories. They asked workers from other factories to express solidarity with them. However, some workers of neighbouring factories located in Ashulia and Savar did not respond to their call. This enraged the unruly workers and they started pelting stones and brickbats at the factories.
Omar Faruk, sub-inspector of the Savar Zone Industrial Police, told The Independent, “As the news of workers’ unrest spread, most of the factories stopped their production for Monday and announced a general holiday.”
Soon after the announcement of the general holiday, around 9:30 am, more than 30,000 workers of different garments units in Ashulia and Savar took to the street and staged demonstrations. The workers brought out processions and tried to block the Dhaka-Aricha highway, Ashulia-Abdullahpur road and the Ashulia-Sigair road, but they were soon dispersed by the police.
Furious with the police assault, the protesting workers threw stones and brickbats at the law enforcers, triggering a fierce clash. The workers, divided in several small groups, continued the clashe. They took shelter at different alleys at Jamgarah, Zirabo and Ghosbagh of Ashulia around 9:30 am. The law enforce fired several rounds of rubber bullets and teargas canisters to bring the situation under control, leaving at least 50 people injured in the clash.The district administration deployed two platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh personnel to avert further unrest, said Liakat Ali, executive magistrate of Savar.
There are 350 garment factories in the Savar and Ashulia Industrial belt, besides the factories housed inside the Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ).
-With The Independent input
