Bangladesh: one worker shot dead and many more wounded

After the dramatic fall of the Hasina dictatorship – the so-called ‘Bangla Spring Revolution’ – the mass of people in Bangladesh started to dream once again for their promised happiness. Little did they know how far they are from the promised ‘happy ever after’ fairytale.

The so-called ‘revolutionary’ student leaders selected former Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus to head an interim government, and the masses had high expectations that this might lead to an overnight improvement in their conditions. But that did not happen.

Effectively, power remains in the hands of the army and its chief Waker-Uz-Zaman, appointed by Hasina and still in place from the former regime. While the army chief himself claims a role in bringing down Hasina, in fact it was the masses – the students and the proletariat – who sacrificed their lives to bring down Hasina. By their actions they forced the senior army officers to boot her out in order to preserve the regime as a whole.

Now, despite all their promises about bringing in a democratic regime, the Yunus government has bestowed magistracy powers on the army in the name of ‘Law and Order’. That means the army can shoot and arrest civilians, and carry out its own trials and sentences.

One of the Yunus government’s own officials, the Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, made it clear that these new powers are directed precisely at the working class: “We are witnessing subversive acts and disrupted stability in several places, especially in the industrial areas across the country. Given the situation, army personnel have been given magistracy power.”

Another adviser anonymously explained to the press how the army is effectively being used in place of the hated police, who are still in disarray since the revolution: “Police are yet to be properly functional. Subversive activities are taking place here and there while the army teams are not accompanied by a magistrate.”

Once again, although now under the so-called ‘peaceful’ regime of Dr. Yunus, the struggle is sharpening. This time, those at the fore are the labourers, i.e. the proletariat. The workers and poor joined the mass uprising in order to achieve a better life for themselves. But Dr. Yunus’ government has done nothing to benefit them. The reality is now dawning on them: they are being completely betrayed by the new regime.

Workers’ struggle

The workers themselves are now taking things into their own hands, using the democratic rights they feel they are entitled to, and fought for under the old regime. There have been continuous demonstrations by the proletariat of Bangladesh on the streets ever since Yunus took his oath as Head Advisor of the interim government.

Currently, the situation is sharpening after the killing of a worker and the injury of several others at a demonstration / Image: আরমান হোসাইন, Facebook

Currently, the situation is sharpening after the killing of a worker and the injury of several others at a demonstration.

An intense workers’ movement has erupted in Ashulia and Gazipur, north of Dhaka, which is a core proletarian centre and home to 75 percent of Bangladesh’s textile industry. At a demonstration one garment worker named Kawser was shot to death; several were wounded. One of our comrades communicated directly with Arman Hossain, a workers’ organiser, to get the real picture:

“The movement started on 7 September. The workers have an 18-point demand list; one of the main points of which concerns discrimination regarding the recruitment of male workers. Fewer men are recruited in comparison with women workers. There are some reasons behind this; such as that women can be paid less than men, that they played a comparatively smaller role in last year’s wage-increasing movement.

“Other points are meal allowances, additional pay for night shifts, ending physical abuse, ending verbal abuse, increasing maternity leave.

“The workers’ general representatives have sat with the bosses to demand the granting of their 18 points. Factory authorities have accepted the demands, but real measures to implement them have yet to be taken. In reality, most of the factories have not paid their workers for three, four or even eight months. Many of the factory owners have even abandoned their garment factories and have started businesses elsewhere. The government, however, has not taken any effective steps.

“At the end of the day, the street is the only option left for the labourers. There is an allegation of [the workers’ action] being a conspiracy. Detectives have claimed in their report that there is infiltration by the BNP [Bangladesh Nationalist Party] who are involved in counterfeiting regarding the Jhoot business [Editor’s note: Jhoot is wastage fabric business. In the past, this business has been controlled by the Awami League. At present, the BNP is trying to syphon the profits from this business into their own pockets, and the false allegation is being made that the workers’ strike is part of this plot].

“At the end of the day, the workers are the main ones to suffer. One worker was shot dead in Zirabo at Ashulia in Bangladesh, and many more were wounded by the law enforcement [i.e. the army, who were given magistracy powers for 60 days].”

Finally, Arman Hossain put forward the following demands on behalf of the workers:

1. All unpaid wages must be paid immediately.
2. The military must be returned to barracks.
3. The immediate execution of the 18-point demands.

We publish this 18-point list of demands at the end of the article.

Ruling class factions vie for power

The collapse of the Awami League regime has left the whole political spectrum fractured into countless parts and factions in Bangladesh as different wings of the ruling class scramble to secure their own positions.

On the one hand, the liberals are utterly directionless, as ever. The goodwill of the masses to their darling, Dr. Yunus, has passed its peak and people are becoming restless. Meanwhile, far-right Islamist forces are gaining in popularity. It isn’t difficult to understand why. It is quite natural that, as a persecuted layer under Hasina, there would be a certain sympathy for them.

But while the Islamists are ultra-reactionaries, and their growth represents an increasing danger to the left to whom their aggression increases with their confidence, the rise in support for them represents a complex mood. The Islamists make a simple and superficially attractive appeal to the masses: under the Awami League you suffered poverty and hardship. The same regime was also secular, un-Islamic and corrupt. We want to end your suffering, they say, so if you want an end to poverty, bring us, the pious, honest Islamists, into power.

The overthrow of Hasina has unleashed a struggle between the capitalists associated with the Awami League, who have numerous links with the state, and those connected to the main opposition party under her reign, the BNP. Both sides are trading accusations of ‘conspiracies’ behind every demonstration, movement and strike.

The overthrow of Hasina has unleashed a struggle between the capitalists associated with the Awami League and those connected to the main opposition party / Image: Tawhid Tasin, Wikimedia Commons

Some claim that the BNP is behind the upsurge of unrest, that they are using it to destabilise the situation in order to bring forward promised elections. Others are claiming that there is a conspiracy involving those connected to the old Awami regime, who are still active and want nothing more than to smear the image of Dr. Yunus.

Law enforcement, whose connections go back to the old regime, insist on the shameless, insulting lie that these workers are backed by the BNP.

Both sides in this conflict are lying for their own advantage. In fact, the workers are entering into struggle against both wings of the capitalist class. The workers have taken up a direct struggle against bosses belonging to the Awami League and, in many instances, are demanding a purge of Awami League stooges from their trade unions. Meanwhile, there is ample evidence that the BNP is lining up with the capitalists and landlords in order to suppress the workers. In fact, on 13 September, the press reported on a meeting between BNP leaders and the local landlords of Ashulia, in which the BNP made it quite clear on which side of the class divide they stand. According to the report:

“They all pledged that if any outside miscreants were to create unrest in the industrial establishment, they would unitedly resist them and hand them over to the law enforcement agencies. Speakers said that from today, no unfair dissatisfaction of industrial organisations will be tolerated.”

The ruling class are superimposing their own internecine struggles over the righteous discontent of the working masses. The working class has no interests in common with either wing of the ruling class. In order to complete the Bangla Spring Revolution, the workers, with the support of the most revolutionary wing of the students, must organise their own party, to rid the country of the rule of all these bourgeois cliques.

In their place, power must be concentrated in the hands of those who alone produce all of the wealth in Bangladesh, yet who are excluded from enjoying its fruits: the workers, the peasants and the poor.

The workers’ 18-point demands

1. Restructure the wage board to refix the minimum wage of the workers
2. Those factories which have not yet implemented the minimum wage announced by the government must implement it as soon as possible.
3. The labour law must be amended
4. In case of termination of employment or dismissal of a worker after completion of five years of employment, a lump sum shall be paid equal to the basic wage; and Section 27 of the controversial Labour Act, along with other Sections, shall be amended.
5. All unpaid wages must be paid immediately.
6. Attendance bonuses (Tk 225), tiffin [lunch] bills (Tk 50), and night bills (Tk 100) should be increased at the same rate across all factories.
7. A retirement fund system to be introduced across all factories.
8. A minimum of 10 percent annual increment should be fixed against workers’ salaries.
9. The introduction of a system of rations for workers.
10. Biometric blacklisting by the BGMEA [the garment bosses’ association] must cease; workers’ biometric data must be under the control of the government.
11. All harassment and political cases should be withdrawn.
12. Measures should be taken to stop the use of fake business, if necessary, laws should be made in this regard
13. Non-discriminatory recruitment should be provided in factories.
14. Compensation and medical care should be ensured for workers martyred and injured in the July revolution.
15. Appropriate measures to be taken for the welfare of the victims of the Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashions accidents following new investigations to supersede those conducting under the rotten Hasina regime.
16. According to the Labour Act, day-care centres must be established in all factories
17. Unfair layoffs must cease.
18. The period of maternity leave for women workers should be fixed at 120 days.