Amid a row over reported complaint to the US Congressmen about the affairs of Bangladesh's apparel industry, the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) termed Saturday the BGMEA president's recent statement 'false, fabricated and intentional' and demanded that he retract such speech.
The labour rights group, in a statement, also demanded justice in "oppression" on workers.
Earlier last week, BGMEA President Md Atiqul Islam alleged that NGWF directly made complaint to the US Congressmen that Bangladeshi workers were harassed and oppressed. This, he alleged, was done bypassing the local authorities concerned. He demanded government action against such activities that "tarnished image" of the country's apparel sector.
The chief of the apex trade body in the export industry came up with the comment after Commerce Minister's June 10-14 visit to the United States where several US Congressmen showed him a letter with the logo of IndustriAll sent from Bangladesh that alleged torture on workers.
Condemning the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) leader's observations, the NGWF in the statement said, "The remark made by the BGMEA president is false, fabricated and intentional."
The statement also adds: NGWF has received copies of the written complaints lodged to the BGMEA president on May 22, one of its vice-presidents on May 25, state ministers for home affairs and labour respectively and secretaries of both the ministries on May 25 last.
"We also formally wrote to the Inspector-General of Police, the DG of Industrial Police and Mymensingh Police Super on May 27," said Amirul Huq Amin, president of the NGWF.
Protesting the alleged torture on workers, he said: "We also gathered in front of the Press Club in the city and demonstrated. It was attended by the labour leaders of Bangladesh Workers Party, SKOP, IndustriAll and other rights groups."
"Despite these, we don't understand why the BGMEA president made such allegation that we didn't inform the local authority concerned," he said.
The letter had the details of Bhaluka labour leader abduction, the vandalizing of trade union office and the abducted labour leader's house and termination of workers, he mentioned.
He further posed a question as to how the BGMEA president termed such letter 'secret letter'.
"Why the BGMEA president criticized the IndustriAll, we don't understand," Mr Amin wondered, demanding withdrawal of such speech made by the apparel apex body's chief.
