Violence Engulfs Gazipur Amid Labour Protests; Police Van Torched, 100+ Vehicles Smashed, Journalists Attacked, 10 BGB Platoons Deployed

Gazipur’s industrial belt has been inflamed by the garment workers’ movement over various demands, including fixing the minimum wage at Tk 30,000. The workers’ movement, which began over wages, is gradually turning violent. Protests, highway blockades, arson and widespread vandalism have destabilised the situation in the industrial area.

A police van was set on fire, more than 100 vehicles, including two police vehicles, were vandalised, and journalists were attacked. There are also allegations of outsiders infiltrating and instigating the movement.

To control the situation, 10 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed in various industrial areas of Gazipur. Law enforcement personnel are performing their duties under the leadership of 21 executive magistrates. Police arrested 30 people connected with the movement between the day before yesterday and yesterday. Several people, including police and BGB members and journalists, were injured in the clashes.

From the morning, workers’ protests spread across Kaliakair’s Palli Bidyut, Safipur, Konabari, Bhogra, Maleker Bari and Naojor areas.

In the morning, about 1,000 to 1,500 workers blockaded the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Kaliakair’s Palli Bidyut area. Vehicular movement on the highway came to a halt. Protesters clashed with law enforcement in various places. A police van was set on fire in the Naojor area. There was also a report of arson on a covered van in Kaliakair. To bring the situation under control, police fired tear gas shells and sound grenades and also charged with batons.

Meanwhile, a reporter and a cameraman from Jamuna Television were attacked in the Naojor area while covering the movement. There are allegations that a group that has infiltrated the movement is attacking journalists on sight. Allegations have also emerged that groups of 15 to 20 youths and teenagers who are not workers are going to various closed factories and carrying out attacks and vandalism.

A BGB member injured in an attack in Kaliakair’s Palli Bidyut area was rescued and taken to hospital. A tense calm prevails in various parts of the industrial area following the violence, arson and vandalism.

Mohammad Amzad Hossain, superintendent of police of Industrial Police-2, Gazipur, said that when workers gathered in various areas from yesterday morning and tried to launch a movement, police dispersed them. During this, a police van was set on fire and various vehicles were vandalised. Thirty people connected with the movement have been arrested since the day before yesterday. Their involvement in the movement and their party affiliations are being verified. One person was detained from the scene over the burning of the police van in Naojor.

Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Md. Nurul Karim Bhuiyan said 10 platoons of BGB have been deployed in the district to control the law and order situation. BGB and other law enforcement personnel are performing their duties under the leadership of 21 executive magistrates. Necessary measures are being taken to ensure the safety of state property and the lives and property of ordinary people.

Meanwhile, Md. Shawkat Hossain Sarkar, administrator of Gazipur City Corporation, said that consensus has been reached in discussions among the government, BGMEA, garment factory owners and workers’ representatives on increasing workers’ wages.

He said a new wage commission was formed yesterday. It is hoped that the increased wages will come into effect from January.

Shawkat Hossain Sarkar alleged that a certain group is working to destroy the garment industry and create an unstable environment. He also claimed that, at the instigation of foreign interests, some people are going to factories and trying to mislead workers with provocative statements. Calling on workers to be patient, maintain a peaceful environment and return to work, he said the government has taken initiatives on the workers’ demands. If the garment industry remains operational, both workers and the country will benefit, he said.

Meanwhile, to prevent disorder on the highway and public suffering, BNP and affiliated organisation leaders and activists have taken positions at various important points from the Bhogra bypass to Naojor. A group of leaders and activists took positions beside the highway under the leadership of Mujibur Rahman, member of parliament for Gazipur-1. Elsewhere, leaders and activists also took positions in the Konabari and Kashimpur areas under the leadership of Shawkat Hossain Sarkar, president of the metropolitan BNP and administrator of the City Corporation.

Tanvir Siraj, president of the BNP’s Gazipur Metro Basan thana unit, said they were in the field to keep vehicular movement running, reduce passengers’ suffering and prevent disorder.

Earlier, workers’ protests began from the morning  yesterday in Kaliakair’s Mouchak, Safipur, Chandra and Palli Bidyut areas. Later, thousands of workers took positions on the highway, and vehicular movement remained suspended for about six and a half hours. Traffic returned to normal at around 2:30pm through the efforts of police and BGB.

That day, the gates of several factories were vandalised in the Palli Bidyut area, a fire broke out in a factory warehouse, and a traffic police box in Mouchak and a police box under the Konabari flyover were vandalised. A police pickup van was set on fire in front of the Ansar Academy. Law enforcement members, workers and journalists were injured in the clashes.

Due to the movement, production was suspended and a general holiday was declared at factories in various industrial areas, including Ratanpur, Konabari and Kashimpur. According to Industrial Police figures, a general holiday had been declared at more than 100 garment factories in Gazipur until 2:30pm the day before yesterday. According to BGMEA’s figures, 529 factories across various industrial areas in Dhaka, Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur and Mymensingh came under the holiday.

Workers allege that, with unchecked price rises in daily essentials, it has become difficult to run their households on current wages. Their income has also fallen because opportunities for overtime work have declined. In this situation, they are agitating over various demands, including fixing the monthly minimum wage at Tk 30,000, reinstating dismissed workers and ending the blacklisting of workers. In response to the workers’ demands, the government announced the formation of a new wage board yesterday.