Workers from around 50 garment factories and police clashed for hours at Ashulia near the capital yesterday, leaving a worker killed and over 150 people including 30 cops wounded.
The fight was a continuation of Saturday’s pitched battles that saw a worker killed and 25 others injured as the Ansars fired on a demonstration for pay hike.
During yesterday’s clashes, police fired over 200 rounds of rubber bullets and teargas canisters and charged baton to disperse the demonstrators.
The workers attacked at least 15 factories and damaged over 50 vehicles. They barricaded the Dhaka-Tangail highway for over four hours, leading to traffic gridlock on either side.
The marauding garment staff also vandalised shops and other business establishments by the highway.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association President Abdus Salam Murshedy has expressed deep concern over the last two days’ violence at Ashulia.
Talking to The Daily Star last night, he said such unrest is very upsetting for the industries.
To quell yesterday’s unrest, some 500 policemen from Dhaka and Manikganj districts were called in to help Ashulia police and the Rapid Action Battalion.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Iqbal Bahar in Dhaka confirmed The Daily Star in the afternoon that a worker had died in the incident. He however could not give identity of the deceased.
Of the seriously injured policemen, Additional SP Imam Hossain, Assistant Police Commissioner (circle) Abdus Salam, Officer-in-Charge Monwar Hossain of Ashulia Police Station, sub-inspectors Ilias Hossain, Abdus Salam, Murad Hossain, Mostafa Kamal and Hafiz Uddin were admitted to hospitals and clinics.
The wounded workers were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital and local hospitals.
Of them, condition of at least 30 was critical, said hospital sources.
Incensed at the death of a fellow worker the previous day, workers began pouring into the Jamgorah bus stop since early in the morning. At 9:00am, they started agitation by barricading the highway with blazing tyres.
As vehicular movement ground to a halt and snarl-ups grew longer, police resorted to baton-charge to break up the demonstration.
The workers retaliated by throwing stones and other projectiles to the law enforcers.
Soon afterwards, chase and counter-chase ensued. Round about 11:00am, police started firing rubber bullets and teargas shells.
Death of a worker at that time stoked the anger among the demonstrators and sent them on the rampage.
With things threatening to spin out of control, additional forces from Dhaka and Manikganj reached the scene at around noon. The situation came under control at 2:00pm.
Over a two km-stretch of the highway from Jamgorah to Baipile was strewn with brickbats, stones and burnt out tyres.
Tension was still running high as of filing this report at 7:00pm. A huge contingent of police was patrolling the area to avert further violence.
So far, two cases have been filed with Ashulia Police Station in connection with the labour unrest and the death of a worker in Ansar firing Saturday.
In one case, Ashulia police accused three Ansar men–Rahmat Ali, Sihab Mollah and Shahjahan–of shooting dead the worker.
Sub-inspector Sekander Ali said the three have already been closed to the headquarters.
BGMEA REACTION
The BGMEA president said the way factories are damaged over a minor incident is so worrying.
“I request the workers and their leaders to understand that the present global situation doesn’t bode well for our export sector.”
He said there is no denying that workers have the right to protest unlawful practices by the factory authorities, while for the owners it is quite reasonable to sack employees lawfully.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh Economy, Bangladesh Politics, Daily Bangladesh News, News, Politics
