Bangladesh: Garment workers ransack Uttara police station

by Colin Sick
At least 50 people including 10 policemen and three journalists were injured during a series of clashes between the law enforcers and garment workers at Uttara in the capital yesterday when the workers went on a rampage demanding wage increase, bonus and arrears. The workers attacked Uttara Police Station, damaged around a dozen vehicles including seven police vans parked inside and a makeshift police camp. Police fired several rounds of rubber bullet and 35 teargas canisters to disperse the marauding garment workers. During the four and a half hours demonstration, the aggrieved workers vandalised two markets, as many banks, wayside restaurants and about 50 vehicles on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

At least 50 people including 10 policemen and three journalists were injured during a series of clashes between the law enforcers and garment workers at Uttara in the capital yesterday when the workers went on a rampage demanding wage increase, bonus and arrears.

The workers attacked Uttara Police Station, damaged around a dozen vehicles including seven police vans parked inside and a makeshift police camp. Police fired several rounds of rubber bullet and 35 teargas canisters to disperse the marauding garment workers.

During the four and a half hours demonstration, the aggrieved workers vandalised two markets, as many banks, wayside restaurants and about 50 vehicles on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

Traffic remained halted for four hours as the vandalism on the busy highway and adjacent shops and markets continued till 12:15pm when police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) managed to bring the situation under control.

Law enforcers arrested 16 demonstrators.

A few hundred workers of Syntax Sweater Factory first gathered in front of the factory at around 8:00am when they learnt that goons hired by the factory authorities beat up three of their colleagues for agitating for higher wage, bonus and arrears, witnesses said.

Joined soon by their other colleagues, they took to the highway and pelted Syntax factory with stones.

As police rushed there to disperse the demonstrators, hundreds of workers from adjacent garment factories -- Hachong, SKS Fashion, Pallab, Boutique, Naz, Kating, Laxma, SD, Bengal and STR -- joined them to block the highway at Azampur and Jasimuddin Road.

The demonstrators attacked different shops on the ground, first and second floors of Kushol Centre at Azampur, witnesses said, adding that they tried to loot Islami Bank and Gharoa Restaurant in the shopping mall. They also broke the glasses of the building.

Another group tried to break into Social Investment Bank and Khazana Restaurant at Latif Emporium market in Sector-3.

After many more garment workers appeared there, policemen charged batons to clear the highway. The workers hurled brickbats and stones at the police.

At around 9:30am, a few thousand agitators chased the policemen towards Uttara Police Station and broke the windowpanes of the police station building with stones.

They also vandalised seven police vans and five other vehicles parked inside the police station.

Policemen in riot gear fired about 35 tear gas canisters and rubber bullets to scare away the demonstrators.

Many demonstrators as well as pedestrians were seen bleeding form police action and stone throwing.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Monir Hossain, Assistant Deputy Commissioner Faiz Ahmed, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Saleh Ahmed, AC Shafiq, Inspector Rafiqul Alam, reporter of the New Nation Ibrahim Sarker, BDNEWS reporter Monir Hossain and Desh Bangla photojournalist Mahmudur Rahman were among the 50 who were injured during the clashes.

The demonstrators vandalised two double-decker Volvo buses and about 50 other vehicles logged on the highway.

As a large number of vehicles snarled up on the highway from Tongi to Progati Sarani at Kuril Bishwa Road, thousands of commuters had to walk a few kilometres.

At round 12:15pm, police and Rab members chased away the demonstrators to clear the highway and traffic movement resumed shortly afterwards.

The authorities do not regularly pay salary, a worker of Syntax Sweater Factory told reporters.

“For the last few months, we have demanded stopping employees' termination for trivial reasons, increasing our salary to Tk 3,000, sick leave and timely payment of our wage and for bonus," he added.

"The authorities are not at all serious about our demands,” said another garment worker.

Many agitators alleged that the factory owners hired goons to torture workers and foil their demonstration for realising demands.

Denying the allegation, owner of Syntax Sweater Factory Omar Hanif Chowdhury said yesterday's vandalism was a result of 'quarrel' between two groups of knitting section employees at his factory two days ago. “We are trying to settle the quarrel. If we fail, we will have to shut down the factory,” he told reporters.

RAMPURA
Workers of Pioneer Garment Factory demanding wage increase, bonus and arrears blocked the Progati Sarani at Rampura and vandalised five vehicles yesterday morning.

The agitators withdrew the blockade after police assured them of fulfilling their demands.

GAZIPUR
Garment workers of Machhihata Sweater Factory at Panishail, who have been agitating for the last few days for wage hike, weekly holiday and removal of the factory AGM, brought out a procession and hurled stones at the factory when they saw their factory closed yesterday morning, reports our correspondent.

Later police and Rab brought the situation under control.

The authorities hung the closure notice yesterday in the face of workers' movement, sources said.

Meantime, workers of Hachong BD Limited at Kaliakoir brought out a procession yesterday morning to protest termination of five colleagues.

As they started throwing brickbats and broke windowpanes, police and Rab rushed there and pacified them by giving assurance of mediation.