This Eid, homebound passengers had a relatively better journey than in past years. Traffic jams were less on the highways and the weather was pleasant. President Mohammed Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia exchanged Eid greetings with people from all walks of life.
However, the three thousand workers of Tuba Group couldn’t enjoy this Eid, nor could the hundreds of thousands of suffering people trapped in Gaza.
In 2012 hundreds of workers were burnt to death in a fire that broke out in the Tuba Group’s Tazreen readymade garment factory, simply due to the negligence of its owner Delwar Hossain. It’s been a year and a half since the incident, but the families of the deceased workers, and the workers who were injured, have not received adequate compensations and are suffering.
Workers of five different factories of the same Tuba Group began a hunger strike on Monday, demanding their wages and bonus. Even with wages it is hard to make ends meet, and these unfortunate workers haven’t received wages for the past three months. Their sufferings know no bounds.
On the TV news we saw the workers demonstrating in the factory premises. Some were crying and wailing. What else are these poor workers to so? The government and BNP leaders are busy spewing verbal venom at each other, but no one has come to stand by these workers before Eid. Labour leaders of the Awami League and BNP camp have also remained silent. Meanwhile, the workers agitate around the factory while their families wait expectantly at home.
The workers say that BGMEA could have resolved the issue before Eid. The government could have solved the problem too. But they didn’t come forward. BGMEA is the association of readymade garment factory owners. They simply cannot ignore the rightful demand of these workers. If Tuba Group would have to sell its property to pay these workers, that initiative should have been taken. They say they aren’t getting a good price for the property. The workers have locked up the owner Delwar Hossain’s mother-in-law in the factory. We can’t support that on a personal level, but then if she is related to the owners of Tuba Group, she must take some responsibility. She has said that the workers can’t be paid unless the factory is sold. If it takes two or three months for the factory to be sold, how will the workers survive for so long?
There are a class of people in Bangladesh who have amassed wealth through the sweat and blood of the workers, but they are unwilling to provide these workers with minimum wages or safety. That is why incidents such as those of Tazreen Garments and Rana Plaza took place.
Legal action must be taken against those who have driven the three thousand workers of Tuba Group to hunger strike. The wages and benefits must be paid immediately.
The other painful event is the massacre at Gaza. The Israeli forces over the last few days have killed over 1100 innocent men, women and children there. They didn’t stop their killing even on Monday when Eid was being observed there. Muslims at prayers, patients in hospital, none was spared. Children playing in the parks on Eid day were not spared. The Israeli forces destroyed houses, schools, hospitals and all sorts of civilian buildings.
The world has not reacted as it should have to the aggression of the Israelis in Gaza. The global conscience has remained silent. This Zionist state pays no attention to the feeble appeals made by the United Nations, nor are they listening to the Security Council’s call for a ceasefire.
The United States had stormed into Iraq, accusing Saddam Hossain of making weapons of mass destruction, though such weapons did not even exist there. He was accused of violating human rights and was killed in a show of ‘justice’. Yet Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is committing much more heinous crimes in Gaza and the West Bank. Why are the human rights leaders silent now? They murmur their disapproval and that is about it. Why such contradictory behaviour? Why this farce?
John Kerry’s Middle East mission will only be successful when he can disarm Israel. Unless he can do this, his message of peace will amount to nothing but empty rhetoric. In this regard, the role of the Muslim world and its organisation OIC is shameful too.
Source: Prothom Alo
