Unrest in garment industries
Whether one likes it or not, there is no denying the fact that Bangladesh seems to be on the verge of a much bigger chaos, if not a total anarchy, than witnessed during the last thirty-five years. Things have turned even nastier, more violent and the well-to-do upper classes’ indifference to the growing chaos and suffering of the poor much more noticeable in Bangladesh than what prevailed during the turbulent days of 1966 or 1969. It is shocking and sickening that while the death of five persons by police firing on February 21, 1952 stirred up the entire province of East Bengal, eventually leading to the creation of Bangladesh, hundreds of deaths of unarmed civilians by law-enforcing agencies and para-military forces during the last thirty-five years, more so during the last decade, have hardly stirred up the polity.
The latest attacks on several garment factories in and around Dhaka city by garment factory workers, who are the most productive and most exploited, the least rewarded and appreciated sections of the poor, have made headlines. The whole country seems to be worried. The predatory, rapacious garment factory owners, who always brag as the biggest foreign exchange earners for Bangladesh have come out on the street demanding ‘justice’ and government intervention. Any law-abiding person, including myself, would expect that the rule of law prevail replacing chaos and disorder.
However, one wonders what type of ‘justice’ and ‘orderly behaviour’ the poor garment factory workers have been getting from either the garment factory owners (who remind me of the ruthless slave owners and the colonial plantation owners of the past) or the government! Is it fair to pay around sixty US cents to a factory worker per day (NOT PER HOUR)? Are not the government and members of the civil society aware of the fact that anyone earning less than a dollar per day is living below the poverty line? Are not human rights activists in Bangladesh and abroad aware of the fact that Bangladeshi garment factory workers are much worse off than were the slaves in the US plantations with regard to calorie intake and not much better off with regard to freedom, leisure and human dignity?
Since the answers to the above questions (I can raise many more embarrassing questions for the government, garment factory owners and members of the so-called civil society) ought to be in the affirmative by any one having any sense of justice, honesty and human dignity, the answer to the question, ‘Who is responsible for burning down of garment factories?’ is that the same people who are responsible for hundreds of deaths of garment factory workers by fire in factories are responsible for the latest ‘fireworks’ in and around garment factories as well.
Taj Hashmi
Canada
ADB country director’s
views on corruption
As reported in a Bangla daily (May 21) quoting BBC, ADB’s country director Hua Du said at a conference in Dhaka on May 20 that Bangladesh is not so corruption-infested as is being portrayed internationally. She said that it is a fact that there is corruption in Bangladesh, but the real situation is not in agreement with the ranking of Bangladesh in the corruption perception index of Transparency International.
Depending only on perception, it is not right to identify any country as the most corrupt one. ADB never considers Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world. The ranking was done by Transparency International, a Berlin-based NGO. There is no doubt that corruption is widespread in Bangladesh, but that is not the criteria to term a country as the most corrupt in the world.
Contrary to this wise and reasonable comment, it has been found that a section of intellectuals, some of the local media and some politicians raised a hue and cry over this issue, quoting the perception index of Transparency, which has no basis. They did not take note of the fact that such efforts contributed towards tarnishing the image of their own country and bolstered the efforts of the vested quarters, local and international, who were trying to prove that Bangladesh is a failed state. Their action did Bangladesh considerable harm.
But can Bangladesh be held responsible alone for the corruption that pervades the country? Another news may be cited for judging the situation.
As appeared in a news published in The Financial Express on May 15, the UK mission in Bangladesh stepped up its efforts to help the Ledwood Engineering, a British marine equipment maker, win the contract for supplying nine dredgers for the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority. It is learnt from the news that a high official of the UK mission wrote to the shipping minister saying ‘This office hereby reiterates its continued support for Ledwood’s bid for this contract. Ledwood’s offer is excellent, in both technical and financial terms.’
If any corruption takes place in making the above deal, can Bangladesh be alone held responsible? Or are we to believe ‘What is virtue for deity, is vice for man’.
AKM Fakhrul Alam
Siddheswari, Dhaka
MAIN PAGE | TOP
|
|
