Angry garment workers set fire to at least seven textile factories in and around the Bangladesh capital yesterday, after news that a worker shot in the back during recent protests over better pay and working conditions had died, officials and witnesses said.
The 20-year-old man, identified only as Rana, was one of about 100 people injured on Monday when thousands of textile workers clashed with factory guards and security forces, police official Kamrul Islam said.
News of Rana's death triggered more violence yesterday as thou-sands of textile workers took to the streets in Savar, an industrial zone near the capital, Dhaka, and the scene of Monday's violent clashes, and the capital, witnesses said.
PHOTO: AFP
Mobs of angry workers, many of them armed with iron rods and sticks, set fire to at least seven factories in Savar and Dhaka, according to private TV channel ATN Bangla.
Dozens of people were injured as security forces swung batons to try to prevent the rampaging workers from smashing and burning passing vehicles, said Nazmul Huda, a local reporter in Savar. The protesters also blocked the roads with pieces of scrap metal, he said.
The protest created huge traffic snarls in Dhaka, a city of 10 million people, and its neighboring areas. Many commuters were stranded in their vehicles, ATN Bangla said.
On Monday, workers set fire to two factories and several buses in Savar during a protest to demand better pay and working conditions, police and witnesses said.
At least 100 people, including several police, were hurt when factory guards and riot police intervened to disperse the protesters, witnesses said.
Protesters also damaged several buses and cars after barricading a major highway to the capital, and ransacked dozens of smaller factories, police officer Jamiruddin Sheikh said.
The workers started demonstrating after authorities failed to meet their demands, which include higher wages and benefits, a six-day work week and an end to forced overtime, Belayet Hossain, a labor leader, said.
Workers are often forced to work seven days a week or late into the night to meet production deadlines, Hossain added.
A textile worker earns about 1,500 takas or US$22 a month. Hossain said they were seeking at least a 30 percent raise.
The rioting apparently started when authorities at some factories tried to stop their workers from joining the unscheduled protest.
Some workers also alleged that the protesters attacked their factories and beat them up for refusing to join in the demonstration, worker Lailee Begum said.
Textile factory owners, meanwhile, launched their own demonstration in Dhaka to protest Monday's incident and demand better security for their factories. The owners blamed a motivated section of workers for instigating the violence, and urged authorities to investigate the attacks on factories.
Several factories that mostly make garments for export were shut down following the rioting, and extra police were deployed in the area.
REBUILDING: A researcher said that it might seem counterintuitive to start talking about reconstruction amid the war with Russia, but it is ‘actually an urgent priority’ Italy is hosting the fourth annual conference on rebuilding Ukraine even as Russia escalates its war, inviting political and business leaders to Rome to promote public-private partnerships on defense, mining, energy and other projects as uncertainty grows about the US’ commitment to Kyiv’s defense. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were opening the meeting yesterday, which gets under way as Russia accelerated its aerial and ground attacks against Ukraine with another night of pounding missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Italian organizers said that 100 official delegations were attending, as were 40 international organizations and development banks. There are
TARIFF ACTION: The US embassy said that the ‘political persecution’ against former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro disrespects the democratic traditions of the nation The US and Brazil on Wednesday escalated their row over US President Donald Trump’s support for former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, with Washington slapping a 50 percent tariff on one of its main steel suppliers. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threatened to reciprocate. Trump has criticized the prosecution of Bolsonaro, who is on trial for allegedly plotting to cling on to power after losing 2022 elections to Lula. Brasilia on Wednesday summoned Washington’s top envoy to the country to explain an embassy statement describing Bolsonaro as a victim of “political persecution” — echoing Trump’s description of the treatment of Bolsonaro as
Pakistani police yesterday said a father shot dead his daughter after she refused to delete her TikTok account. In the Muslim-majority country, women can be subjected to violence by family members for not following strict rules on how to behave in public, including in online spaces. “The girl’s father had asked her to delete her TikTok account. On refusal, he killed her,” a police spokesperson said. Investigators said the father killed his 16-year-old daughter on Tuesday “for honor,” the police report said. The man was subsequently arrested. The girl’s family initially tried to “portray the murder as a suicide” said police in
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
RSS