Garment workers leave Dhaka-Tangail highway in Gazipur after three hours, traffic normal but industrial area remains tense

Garment workers have left the Dhaka-Tangail highway in Gazipur after blockading it for three hours. In the face of a firm stance and warnings from law enforcement, the blockade that ran from 8am to 11am on Tuesday (3 November) ended and traffic returned to normal at various points. But although the workers have left the highway, a tense atmosphere prevails across the industrial area.

From 8am to 11am on Tuesday, workers blockaded and demonstrated at various points of the Dhaka-Tangail highway and in Gazipur's Bhogra Bypass area. Traffic was halted at several places, creating long tailbacks.

Witnesses said workers blockaded the Dhaka Bypass Expressway in the Bhogra Bypass area of Gazipur at around 10am. The long blockade created long queues of vehicles on both sides of the expressway. Police and BGB members led by police officer Mohammad Belayet Hossain then went to the spot, and traffic returned to normal after sound grenades were used to disperse the protesting workers.

Earlier, at around 9:30am, workers blockaded the Dhaka-Tangail highway in front of the Diganta Sweater factory in Gazipur's Naojor area. They brought waste dumped beside the highway onto the road and set it on fire. Traffic was halted from Joydebpur Chowrasta to Naojor intersection. At one stage, protesters were also seen playing cricket on the highway while blocking all kinds of vehicles.

Shortly before 8am, several workers tried to blockade the Dhaka-Tangail highway in the Mouchak area of Kaliakair, Gazipur. Law enforcement members immediately went to the spot and, without any conflict, persuaded them to leave the highway.

At the same time, workers also tried to blockade the Dhaka-Tangail highway at Palli Bidyut intersection in Kaliakair. Police and BGB members later went there and removed them.

Gazipur Metropolitan Police Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) Mohammad Belayet Hossain said the situation had been monitored at various points of the highway since the morning. After talks with garment workers in the Naojor area, they left the spot, he said.

He said workers can certainly protest over their demands; they have protested at various times in the past and the police have an idea of the different forms of protest. But he noted that the pattern of this protest was somewhat different.

Belayet Hossain also said that after the situation in Naojor began to return to normal, stones were suddenly thrown; someone may be trying to create an issue out of the incident. The barricades in the Naojor and Bhogra Bypass areas have been removed and traffic is now normal, he said.

Although the workers have left the highway, law enforcement members were seen remaining on alert at various important points of the industrial area amid fears of fresh demonstrations or blockades.