No respite from the continuous unrest in the readymade garment (RMG) despite various measures have been taken by the high-officials of the government, factory owners and law-enforcement agencies in last one month.
Rather, the situation is worsening day by day leaving the apparel sector, mainly in Ashulia, Savar and Gazipur industrial zones, into a possible disaster.
Workers from many of the RMG factories have been protesting with their various demands, including payment of unpaid wages, increasing of salaries and ensuring of working environment.
In view of press home their demands, the workers have also been staging demonstrations by blocking roads and highways in Ashulia, Savar, Tongi and Gazipur.
As part of the continuous unrest, operation in as many as 65 RMG factories in Ashulia remained halted on Sunday.
Earlier, earlier in the last half of August, the government deployed personnel from the joint forces led by personnel from the Bangladesh Army to bring the garment sector under control. In this regard, a large number of personnel from Army, Border Guard Bangladesh and Police have been deployed.
In a further development, several advisers of the interim government, leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and different workers' unions and officials of different law-enforcement agencies made an announcement of fulfilling all the 18 demands of the protesting workers.
But, the announcement could not be able to make the situation calm.
Like in the previous days, productions in 65 factories in Ashulia industrial area remained halted on Sunday.
As many as 14 of the factories were closed under the "No Work, No Pay" provision of Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006, while 51 factories either on paid leave.
Earlier in the morning, the Industrial Police reported that although the situation in areas such as Baipail, DEPZ, Jamgora, and Narsinghpur had been relatively calm since morning, unrest gradually escalated in the Zirabo Pukurpar area when workers of Beq Knit Ltd. of Lusaka Group gathered in front of the factory to protest, demanding the reopening of the closed factory and the withdrawal of cases filed against workers.
A source from the Industrial Police said, "Although the situation in other parts of the industrial area was relatively calm since the morning, unrest began once again in Kathgara, similar to Saturday."
Workers from Beq Knitwear Ltd. of Lusaka Group gathered in front of the factory in the morning to protest demanding the reopening of the closed factory and the withdrawal of cases filed against the workers. At one stage, the workers began throwing stones and causing a disturbance in front of other nearby factories, prompting several factories in the area to declare closure.
Later, workers from Mondol Knitwear Ltd. also took to the streets, blocking roads and starting protests, accusing authorities of detaining and assaulting two of their workers.
As workers from other nearby factories gradually joined the protesting workers, the situation worsened.
A worker from Lusaka Group said, "I went to the factory in the morning. Later, workers started protesting, demanding the reopening of the closed factory and the withdrawal of cases against them. The police and army personnel chased the workers away. Afterwards, workers from Mondol also began protesting, and they went to other factories to bring workers out."
As of 12:30pm, tension was still high in the areas of Kathgara, Pukurpar, and surrounding areas in Ashulia.
According to industry sources, 14 factories closed in Ashulia, include The Rose Dresses Ltd., Islam Dresses Ltd., Anjuman Design Ltd., Envoy Fashion Ltd., New Age Group, and Beq Knitwear Ltd., are closed today under Section 13(1) of the Bangladesh Labour Act.
Additionally, factories that are on paid leave, have stopped operations, or in which workers have left include Skyline Garments Ltd., Skyline Apparels Ltd., Usso Fashion, Mangotex Ltd., Arunima Apparels, Textown Ltd., AR Jeans Producer Ltd., Kathgara Composite Ltd., Southern Clothing, Mascot Knit, Agami Apparels, and Comfort Composite.
The source further reported that there were a total of 407 operational factories in Savar, Ashulia, and Zirani areas on Sunday, while 65 remain closed.
In Gazipur, 876 factories are operational, with only one closed.
In Narayanganj, 209 factories were open, 302 in the DMP area, and 350 in Chattogram.
Attempts to contact Md Sarwar Alam, superintendent of Industrial Police-1, for a statement were unsuccessful as calls were not answered.
