Better-Pay Demo: Outsiders attack RMG workers in Mirpur factory

Over two dozen workers of an Epyllion Group factory in Mirpur-11 were injured as unidentified outsiders allegedly entered their workplace and assaulted them with rods during a silent protest for higher minimum wages yesterday.

The Daily Star spoke to dozens of eyewitnesses and victims who confirmed the attack.

Reazuddin Al Mamoon, chairman of Epyllion Group, told The Daily Star today, "A hundred or more people barged into the factory, past the three or four security guards. They broke the CCTV cameras. I am so frustrated that these workers have been assaulted like this."

Till 8:30pm yesterday, law enforcers were yet to inspect the CCTV footage of the factory to determine what had really happened.

The workers further alleged that when they were protesting on the streets the previous day (Monday), ruling party activists came to the area and threatened to beat them with rods if they did not return to work.

They claimed Taijul Islam Bappi, councillor of Dhaka North City Corporation ward-6, was present there.

Yesterday, workers showed up but abstained from working. Some of them said they refused to work until the management came and explained why men with rods had threatened them to get off the streets the day before.

A few workers said they were preparing to take to the streets again when men with rods allegedly came near the factory's cafeteria and assaulted them.

A woman with a blood-stained scarf said, "People with rods attacked my colleagues and one had their head smashed in. There was so much blood everywhere. I helped bring the [injured] workers to hospital."

As the workers tried to escape, the outsiders continued the assault on the streets in front of law enforcers, they said.

Many workers were seen with head bandages at the reception area of Islami Bank Hospital, opposite the factory.

Some workers said they suspected the involvement of ruling party activists as the attackers kept calling them "BNP-Jamaat".

Councillor Bappi could not be reached over the phone despite repeated calls.

Jubo League leader Awlad Hossain, left, holding a shotgun in front of Apollo Knitwear Factory around the time a group of unidentified people assaulted workers inside an Epyllion Group factory in Mirpur-11 yesterday. PHOTO: COURTESY OF PROTHOM ALO

During the mayhem, a Prothom Alo photojournalist took a photo of local Jubo League leader Awlad Hossain brandishing a firearm at the scene yesterday.

Contacted, Awlad admitted that he was indeed present at the spot with his licensed nine-shooter shotgun. "But I wasn't attacking the workers. I was there because I had a business meeting at Apollo Garments, which is adjacent to Epyllion. There was a lot of commotion around and our vehicles were being turned away, so I took out my gun for self-defense."

Reazuddin Mamoon claimed, "Workers from surrounding factories had taken to the streets, and there was a rumour that they had been attacked by police. Our workers were attempting to leave the factory to join them, so we locked the gates.

"They then became violent, trying to break down the gates, and started fighting among themselves."

He added that the workers were provoked by a rumour that two coworkers were killed.

Mamoon further claimed, "We bore the treatment costs for the injured."

Mashuk Mia, additional deputy commissioner of police in Mirpur zone, said they were yet to collect or inspect the CCTV footage of the area to determine who was responsible.

"There are 235 RMG factories in the area. It's possible that the owners of some of those could be politicised."

Meanwhile, RMG workers allegedly torched a traffic police box and a Walton showroom in Chandra and Shafipur areas in Gazipur's Kaliakair upazila yesterday afternoon while protesting the killing of a worker the day before.

Raihan Mia, senior station officer of Kaliakair Fire Service, said three units of the firefighters managed to douse the fire at the showroom around 3:00pm.

He also said they rushed to put out the blaze at the traffic police box, but the workers did not allow them to do so.

The workers also vandalised Tanha Health Care Hospital and several shops in the Shafipur area.

The majority of the RMG factories in Ashulia were closed yesterday as worker demonstrations continued.

Eyewitnesses said hundreds of workers from several factories blocked the Baipail-Abdullahpur road in Jamgara and different points in Ashulia's Narsingpur area from 7:30am. Police later used tear gas shells and water cannons to disperse the workers.

The chaos continued till noon.

Khairul Mamun Mintu, president of Bangladesh Trade Union Centre's Savar-Ashulia unit, told The Daily Star that the labour leaders requested workers not to hold demonstrations, but they paid no heed. "We know they would face police action even if they demonstrate peacefully for their legitimate demands."

Meanwhile, IndustriALL Bangladesh Council suspects that opposition parties are taking advantage of the current labour movement.

Its president, Amirul Haque Amin, at a press conference held at Dhaka Reporter's Unity yesterday, said, "Some people taking part [in the movement and causing destruction] are not RMG workers. A group with vested interests is trying to use it [the movement] politically.

He urged labourers not to vandalise any factory or create unrest on the roads.

(Our Savar and Gazipur correspondents contributed to the story.)

This original report erroneously quoted Epyllion Group Chairman Reazuddin Al Mamoon as denying that the outsiders attacked the factory, when in fact it was one of his staffers who said it. The chairman's quote has been included in this updated report. We regret the error.