A photo essay by Andrew Biraj text by Tanim Ahmed

It was the social fabric built on a sense of security, belonging and togetherness that was torn to shred when the law enforcers stormed into the living quarters of jute factory workers in Khalishpur earlier this year. The police had come in riot gear, wielding truncheons and hurling abuses at the women. They had come to pick up suspected agitators. During those days of late-April workers had decided to take to the streets despite the state of emergency banning association and assembly. The jute factory workers at the Khalishpur industrial belt in Khulna had not received their pay for over four months, some for an even longer time.

Following a bout of strong demonstrations the authorities decided to apprehend the workers and thus the riot police were sent into the colonies. They kicked open doors, manhandling women on their path and hauled out the men, most of whom had not in fact gone to the streets. The police even beat up children as young as three.

Colonies of the state-owned jute mills are like self-contained cosmopolitan townships. A farmer’s son from Barguna and the clerk hailing from Gopalganj become friends after spending years beside each other at the quarters. They not only forge friendships but become families and form bonds with each other that become all the stronger through their hardships and joys. The townships also have their own pulse beating invariably around the factory itself.

The colonies typically have wide streets and walkways. A school or college for the wards of the workers necessarily has a large open field in front where a visitor would see children barely able to walk run around without a care in the world. The sense of security is unlike an urban locale and typical to a close-knit society.
   It was this peace of mind and the sense of security that was torn apart when the police descended upon the colonies and dragged away innocent men. They hurled abuses at the women and swore at children. The insults stuck to their minds long after the police had left and it ate away into their sense of dignity. That was perhaps much more traumatic than the physical violence itself. The women wondered how the policemen, as young as their own children, could be so violent towards people and rude. They thought their own kind had turned against them.
   The Khalishpur industrial belt has been a site of many workers’ demonstrations, often in demand of pending arrears and allocation of funds to procure jute to keep the state-owned factories running. Successive governments have, however, religiously followed the path as prescribed by lending agencies that prescribe gradual shutdown of all but two state-owned jute mills. The workers of those jute mills still have several months worth of wages pending, while some others sent into, what the military-driven interim government prefers to call, voluntary retirement, have yet to receive even a hint of when their retirement benefits would be given.
   One thing is for certain, the golden fibre has begun to lose its glint.