Staff Reporter:
Law enforcement agencies have stated that leaders and activists of the activity-banned Awami League and its affiliate organizations are directly involved in instigating and sabotaging the violence organized under the guise of garment workers in the capital’s Mirpur and surrounding areas.
Responsible government quarters have also stated that attempts are being made to divert this logical movement of ordinary workers and create an unstable environment in the country.
From the high levels of the government, it has been informed that the Ministry of Labor and Employment has formed a new wage board to increase the wages of garment workers. It added that the wage board, comprising representatives from the government, owners, and workers, will finalize the recommendations for the new salary structure within the shortest possible time.
In this situation, the Ministry of Home Affairs has warned that those who attack state property, commit arson, and disrupt public safety under the guise of workers will strictly be suppressed.
Industrial Police Chief and Additional Inspector General of Police Gazi Jashim Uddin saw the third party’s involvement in the labor unrest.
He said the government has already formed a minimum wage board for the RMG workers as part of the move to solve the issues, adding that despite the step some of the workers are still demonstrating at different parts of the country with mala-fide intention.
“It is assumed that third party instigation is behind the demonstration,” he said.
He said prior to forming the minimum wage board for RMG workers, the police tried time and again to calm the agitating workers saying that the government has been working to announce the minimum wage board for them.
Despite the repeated police call, some of the RMG workers held violent demonstration which indicates third party instigation, he opined.
Mohammad Rakib Khan, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the Mirpur Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Detective Police (DB), told the media yesterday that 11 leaders and activists of the Awami League, Jubo League, and Chhatra League have been arrested red-handed on charges of attacking police and setting fire to a government vehicle after the movement turned violent. Preliminary investigation and intelligence data have proven that activists of the banned party are conducting this sabotage.
The DB Police further stated that the arrested individuals are not actually local garment factory workers; they had gathered in Mirpur from various districts of the country, including Barishal, Patuakhali, Cox’s Bazar, and Gaibandha, with the intention of carrying out sabotage under the cover of the workers’ movement. Intelligence operations are ongoing to identify and arrest other suspects involved in this ring, he said.
Responsible officials of the law enforcement agencies stated that as part of an evil design and far-reaching conspiracy to spread panic among the public and create an unstable environment in the country, the activists of the banned organization are conducting this sabotage by posing as ordinary garment workers or operating from behind them.
Yesterday, when violence began by blocking roads in the name of a movement in the Mirpur area, the normal movement of ordinary people was completely disrupted. To control the situation and ensure the safety of passengers, the authorities were forced to completely shut down important metro stations in Mirpur for several hours. This resulted in severe traffic gridlocks, causing extreme suffering to thousands of people.
