Govt orders probe into Tongi labour unrest as death toll ups
Monday, 2 November 2009
FE Report
The government has ordered an official inquiry into Saturday's violent labour unrest in Tongi Industrial Area, as relatives claimed a mason has died in the clashes, bringing death toll in the rioting to three.
Home minister Sahara Khatun told reporters Sunday a five-member committee led by the labour secretary would now probe the clashes that also left more than 100 people injured in one of the worst industrial violence in recent months.
"The committee has been given 15 days to conduct investigation and file report. Based on its findings we are going to take actions against the culprits," she said, adding that the prime minister has also ordered stern action.
"None including the factory owners, workers and their alleged god-fathers will be spared if they are found responsible for the incident," she added.
Her warnings came as a son of mason said his father succumbed to injuries at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), a day after he sustained head wounds during the Tongi clashes.
Police said they are not sure whether Tajul Islam, 50, was wounded in the violence as Islam only had died due to head injuries.
"We are investigating whether he had in fact sustained injury during the Tongi clashes. We also have to conduct an autopsy to ascertain the reason of his death," police sub-inspector Abu Bakr Siddiqui told the FE.
Authorities had initially refused to confirm any death in the violence, leading to allegations of cover-ups by garment unions.
Tongi police said late Saturday night that they found two dead bodies, more than 12 hours after the violence had erupted. Gazipur police chief Mahfuzul Haq Nuruzzzaman also rejected any foul-play.
Police Sunday filed a case against 2,000 to 3,000 unidentified people ---mainly garment workers --- accusing them of assaulting policemen, breaking law and order, vandalism and using explosives.
Tapan Saha, officer in-charge of Tongi Police Station, filed the case. No case, however, was filed against the owners of Nippon Garments who abruptly shut down the factory without paying salaries to 4,000 workers.
Police said they arrested eight people in this connection and has also deployed more than 1,500 armed law-enforcers to prevent any fresh violence.
An uneasy calm prevailed at the Tongi Industrial Area, home to scores of garment and textile factories employing hundreds of thousands of workers.
The trouble brewed up Saturday morning as the Nippon Garments owners hung up a notice at the factory gate, announcing lay-off of the industrial unit till November 29 citing dearth of orders due to the global recession.
The workers were supposed to be paid three months' back wages in the morning, according to Montu Ghosh, a union leader. Instead they found armed policemen guarding the closed factory.
Thousands of workers then erupted into angry demonstration and at one point they put up blockade at the busy Mymensingh highway and hurled stones and bricks at the policemen, prompting the law-enforcers to retaliate with rubber bullets, tear gas and baton charges.
Officials at the DMCH alleged that they had treated nine people with live bullet wounds, although police has refused to say that they opened fire at the agitating workers.
Saturday's violence was the worst to hit the Bangladesh's garment sector since the global slump started to affect the country's key export earners from late last year.
Garment exports in the last fiscal year accounted for 80 per cent of the country's US$15.56 billion merchandise shipment. In the first two months of the current fiscal, exports were down by more than three per cent due to the global economic crisis.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has smelled hidden hands behind the violence, although unions said the protests was peaceful and spontaneous and it became violent only after police opened fired at the workers.
The BGMEA has also formed a separate probe body to investigate whether the actions by Nippon Garment owners resulted in the violence.
The government has ordered an official inquiry into Saturday's violent labour unrest in Tongi Industrial Area, as relatives claimed a mason has died in the clashes, bringing death toll in the rioting to three.
Home minister Sahara Khatun told reporters Sunday a five-member committee led by the labour secretary would now probe the clashes that also left more than 100 people injured in one of the worst industrial violence in recent months.
"The committee has been given 15 days to conduct investigation and file report. Based on its findings we are going to take actions against the culprits," she said, adding that the prime minister has also ordered stern action.
"None including the factory owners, workers and their alleged god-fathers will be spared if they are found responsible for the incident," she added.
Her warnings came as a son of mason said his father succumbed to injuries at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), a day after he sustained head wounds during the Tongi clashes.
Police said they are not sure whether Tajul Islam, 50, was wounded in the violence as Islam only had died due to head injuries.
"We are investigating whether he had in fact sustained injury during the Tongi clashes. We also have to conduct an autopsy to ascertain the reason of his death," police sub-inspector Abu Bakr Siddiqui told the FE.
Authorities had initially refused to confirm any death in the violence, leading to allegations of cover-ups by garment unions.
Tongi police said late Saturday night that they found two dead bodies, more than 12 hours after the violence had erupted. Gazipur police chief Mahfuzul Haq Nuruzzzaman also rejected any foul-play.
Police Sunday filed a case against 2,000 to 3,000 unidentified people ---mainly garment workers --- accusing them of assaulting policemen, breaking law and order, vandalism and using explosives.
Tapan Saha, officer in-charge of Tongi Police Station, filed the case. No case, however, was filed against the owners of Nippon Garments who abruptly shut down the factory without paying salaries to 4,000 workers.
Police said they arrested eight people in this connection and has also deployed more than 1,500 armed law-enforcers to prevent any fresh violence.
An uneasy calm prevailed at the Tongi Industrial Area, home to scores of garment and textile factories employing hundreds of thousands of workers.
The trouble brewed up Saturday morning as the Nippon Garments owners hung up a notice at the factory gate, announcing lay-off of the industrial unit till November 29 citing dearth of orders due to the global recession.
The workers were supposed to be paid three months' back wages in the morning, according to Montu Ghosh, a union leader. Instead they found armed policemen guarding the closed factory.
Thousands of workers then erupted into angry demonstration and at one point they put up blockade at the busy Mymensingh highway and hurled stones and bricks at the policemen, prompting the law-enforcers to retaliate with rubber bullets, tear gas and baton charges.
Officials at the DMCH alleged that they had treated nine people with live bullet wounds, although police has refused to say that they opened fire at the agitating workers.
Saturday's violence was the worst to hit the Bangladesh's garment sector since the global slump started to affect the country's key export earners from late last year.
Garment exports in the last fiscal year accounted for 80 per cent of the country's US$15.56 billion merchandise shipment. In the first two months of the current fiscal, exports were down by more than three per cent due to the global economic crisis.
Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has smelled hidden hands behind the violence, although unions said the protests was peaceful and spontaneous and it became violent only after police opened fired at the workers.
The BGMEA has also formed a separate probe body to investigate whether the actions by Nippon Garment owners resulted in the violence.