Garment workers' movement is just and logical, government is mishandling it: Nahid at Dhaka Medical

National Citizen Party (NCP) convener Nahid Islam has said the garment workers' movement has reached its current stage because the government has tried to handle it wrongly. He said that during the Awami League's time the government used to see the ghost of Jamaat-Shibir in any movement, and now the BNP sees the ghost of the Awami League in any movement. By saying this, an attempt is being made to nullify the legitimacy of the movement, he said, but the ongoing workers' movement demanding a wage increase for garment workers is an extremely just and logical movement.

Nahid Islam, chief whip of the opposition in the national parliament, said this while speaking to journalists on the Dhaka Medical College Hospital premises on Wednesday night. He had gone to Dhaka Medical to visit leaders and workers who were seriously injured in an attack by law enforcement agencies at a gayebana janaza in Gazipur organised by the NCP's labour organisation, Jatiya Sramik Shakti.

Nahid Islam said police, BGB and other law enforcement agencies carried out a disgraceful attack on the peaceful democratic programme of the gayebana janaza held in memory of worker Toufiq Sheikh, who was killed in the ongoing movement. Seventeen workers, including Sramik Shakti convener Mazharul Islam Fakir, were injured there, among them women workers. Some of the injured are in an extremely painful condition and are under treatment.

On the workers' movement, Nahid Islam said the country's situation has reached this point because the government has 'dealt' with the movement wrongly. The government is trying to stop the movement by force without paying it any heed, he said.

He said the movement began much earlier. The wage board was formed one week after the movement began, and no meeting of the wage board was held for three days after its formation. It held its first meeting today, considering the situation. That means there has been negligence on the government's part, he said.

Nahid said the home minister said in a statement today that this is not a labour movement at all. That means the government is still not recognising the movement as a movement at all. Instead, it is explaining this movement for just and logical demands through various conspiracy theories and presenting images of violence within it, he said.

"We will say, the BNP itself started the violence in this movement. There has been state violence against workers, and government-party violence and repression against them are continuing. Yesterday, BNP goons were brought out with hockey sticks and stumps in hand. They took to the streets to beat workers. Who gave the BNP or these goons this responsibility?" he said.

Criticising the attempt to suppress the workers' movement by unleashing party thugs as well as police and law enforcement agencies, Nahid Islam said the government is suppressing workers in exactly the same authoritarian manner and process as movements, especially workers' movements, were suppressed during Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian rule.

He said the movement has reached this stage because, instead of going down the path of a worker-owner understanding or resolving it politically, an attempt has been made to suppress it through violence.

Calling the banned Awami League an 'enemy of Bangladesh', Nahid Islam told journalists, "They will try to take advantage of any situation, and have been doing so, and the BNP has been giving them that opportunity for the past seven months. They are sheltering the Awami League in various places, especially in the Gazipur and Savar areas. The BNP has compromised on trials and broken the national consensus against fascism. The BNP has broken its promises. So the government and the BNP will have to take responsibility for this situation."

Addressing the government, Nahid said, "There is still time. Without any delaying tactics, accept the workers' just demands, talk to them sincerely, come to discussions. Do not try any deception."

Nahid Islam demanded compensation for the family of worker Toufiq Sheikh, killed in violence during the movement, in accordance with ILO conventions. He said there must be a fair investigation and trial of his death, unjust cases against labour leaders must be withdrawn, and arrested labour leaders and workers must be released unconditionally. The government must immediately reach a fair solution involving garment industry owners, workers and all political parties, he said.