Savar:Garment workers in Savar and Ashulia staged demonstrations on Thursday, demanding justice for a fellow worker who died after being injured in an attack in Gazipur. Workers from approximately 30 garment factories in Hemayetpur, Fulbaria, and Ulail areas of Savar municipality left their workplaces after marking attendance around 800 am and protested on the Dhaka-Aricha highway and nearby roads.
According to United News of Bangladesh, workers in Ashulia also took position on the Abdullahpur-Baipail road, causing traffic disruptions. Police intervened to disperse them from several points, prompting the demonstrators to move to adjacent roads. The workers continued their protests, citing dissatisfaction with the wage board's announcement of a wage increase in December, as the specific amount of the proposed hike was still undisclosed.
In response to the unrest, around 70 garment factories in Ashulia declared a general holiday on Thursday to avert any potential incidents, stated Mominul Islam Bhuiyan, Superintendent of Ashulia Industrial Police-1. The protests were sparked by the death of Toufiq Hossain, who was beaten while recording a video of an attack on a garment factory in Gazipur on November 2 and succumbed to his injuries at a hospital on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, demonstrators blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway in Savar, and a police van along with a motorcycle was set on fire during the unrest. Despite the fresh demonstrations, the overall situation in the Savar industrial belt was relatively calm on Thursday. Enhanced security measures have been implemented across the industrial areas to deter vandalism and further unrest. Members of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed alongside police, with police armored vehicles positioned at strategic points.
In a related development, BNP leaders and activists organized a roadside rally and a motorcycle procession in Ashulia on Thursday, aiming to prevent disorder in the garment industrial belt. The rally took place in front of Joy Restaurant in Nabinagar around noon. Dhaka-19 MP Dr. Dewan Mohammod Salahuddin attended the event as the chief guest, accompanied by Reserved-seat MP Nipun Roy Chowdhury, former Joint General Secretary of Dhaka District BNP Lion Mohammad Khorshed Alam, and Dhaka District Swechchhasebak Dal Convener Nazmul Hasan Abhi.