Workers attack ansar camp, battle with police in Gazipur, Savar, Dhaka, 135 injured
The police battled with violent apparel workers who vandalised factories and vehicles and attacked an ansar camp as labour unrest over wages flared in Gazipur, Savar and in the capital on Monday.
Garment factory workers, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 8,100, fought pitched battles with law enforcers in Gazipur and Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka and at Tejgon, Mahakhali and Badda in the capital that left at least 135 people, including six policemen, injured.
Police charged batons, fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.
Four ansar constables were injured when workers attacked their camp near Colossus Apparels factory at Bhogra of Gazipur. The workers allegedly looted four rifles and 135 rounds of bullet from the camp. They burnt four rifles in front of the camp but the looted bullets could not be traced, the ansars at the camp said.
The authorities of almost all readymade garment factories in Gazipur decided to suspend production at their units for Monday amid violent protests, said Mosharraf Hossain, assistant superintendent of Gazipur Industrial Police.
Most of the garment units in Tejgaon industrial area also remained closed for Monday to avoid further vandalism.
The government, after a meeting between workers’ leaders, factory owners and a minister, called upon the agitating workers to return to work today and identify those who were inciting violence in the export-oriented industrial sector.
Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan at the meeting said he believed neither the factory owners nor workers were responsible for the unrest.
The protesters blocked Dhaka-Mymensingh, Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Aricha highways at different points at Tongi, Joydevpur, Kaliakoir and Savar and damaged at least 115 vehicles. Traffic remained suspended on the busy highways for hours triggering tailbacks. Apparel workers also blocked roads at Tejgaon and Badda in Dhaka disrupting traffic.
Reports from Gazipur said violence erupted at around 8:30am when over 10,000 workers of different factories carrying sticks gathered on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in Tongi.
Joydevpur police sub-inspector Md Mizan said workers had blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and vandalised scores of buses. Fighting erupted when police tried to clear the highway at around 8:30am. The police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the mobs of protesters. At least 50 people were injured during the clashes, locals said.
Abu Jafar Ahmed, station officer of Gazipur fire service said workers of Diganta Sweater at Nawjor had attacked the factory, smashed windowpanes and set fire to a store of the factory.
The workers of Rose Knitting and Sumon Textiles Limited marched to the adjacent Colossus Apparels Limited and asked its workers to join them in the protests. As the workers of the factory came out, the mob jointly attacked the nearby Ansar camp with bamboo sticks and looted the rifles and bullets.
Apan Mollah, commander of the camp, and three of his colleagues – Alamgir Hossain, Mahalam and Abu Raihan – were injured in the attack.
The marauding workers vandalised at least 100 vehicles at places in Gazipur.
They vandalised factories and vehicles at Chandana, Bhogra, Bason, Barabari and Pagarh on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and at Konabari on Dhaka-Tangail highway during demonstrations, said Gazipur police.
Tongi police sub-inspector Moniruzzman said police had charged batons and fired tear gas, rubber bullets and used shotgun to disperse the demonstrators. The clashes there left at least 100 workers injured.
Traffic resumed on Dhaka-Joydevpur highway at around 12:30pm.
Twelve of the injured were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, according to on-duty doctor Mahbubur Rahman.
Reports from Savar said at least 35 people, including six policemen, were injured during sporadic clashes between police and apparel workers at Karnapara, Ulail and Savar bus stand areas on Dhaka-Aricha highway.
Clashes broke out at Karnapara and Ulail as police swung into action to disperse around 4,000 workers from the highway. The agitating workers vandalised at least 10 vehicles and several factories there.
Police charged batons and used tear gas shells and rubber bullets to break up the demonstrations leaving 20 people, including the six policemen, injured.
After the violence, 10 factories at Karnapara and Ulail suspended production for Monday, said Omar Faruk, a sub-inspector of Savar Industrial Police.
More than 2,000 workers of GK Garments and Savar Textiles clashed with police at Savar leaving at least 15 people injured. The agitating workers also vandalised at least five buses on the highway. The authorities of the two factories suspended production for the day.
In Tejgaon industrial area in the capital, more than 1,000 apparel workers from different factories gathered at Nabisco crossing in the morning and started throwing stones at the roadside factories, smashing a closed-circuit camera of a Ha-Meem Group unit.
They also torched two microbuses and a motorbike parked in front of a factory. At around 10:30am, the workers gathered on Tejgaon-Gulshan Link Road and vandalised at least four vehicles halting traffic for several hours.
Police used shotgun and tear gas to disperse the workers, said Mohammad Moniruzzaman, officer in-charge of Tejgaon Industrial Area police.
The authorities of almost all garment factories in the industrial belt shut production for Monday fearing further vandalism.
Workers of Ananya Garments at Mahakhali also took to the streets but police dispersed them immediately. Reports of workers protest also came in from Banani area.
In the afternoon, a group of workers went out on demonstrations at Badda but police dispersed them.
The government on June 6 set up the six-member minimum wage board with retired district judge AK Roy as chairman. The workers’ representative to the board on August 18 proposed Tk 8,114 as minimum gross monthly wage for a worker while the owners’ representative on September 17 proposed Tk 3,600 a month.
The union leaders said that they would reach a decision through negotiations over the pay hike.
The fresh unrest began on Saturday as several thousand apparel workers staged violent protests in Gazipur, Savar and Narayanganj after they were denied permission to attend a rally in Dhaka.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry was worried over the persistent unrest in the garment sector. The apex trade body appealed to the government to finalise a ‘just wage structure’ for the garment sector.
-With New Age input
