A protest march and rally were held at Dhaka University (DU) on Wednesday by leftist student organization Biplobi Chhatra Moitri, demanding justice for worker Toufiq Sheikh, who died during the ongoing workers’ movement.
The march began at around 3:15pm from Pigeon Square at the university’s Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), passed through several campus roads and ended with a brief rally in front of the Raju Sculpture.
Organization members carried banners and placards bearing slogans demanding solidarity with working people and justice for Toufiq, whom they described as a victim of a state attack during the movement.
Addressing the rally, Israt Jahan Imu, organizing secretary of the Biplobi Chhatra Moitri's Dhaka University unit, said workers’ movements had been ongoing in industrial areas, including Savar, Ashulia and Gazipur, for a long time.
She said many students were forced to enter the workforce at an early age because of financial hardship. Toufiq Sheikh was among them, taking a job in Gazipur after his father's death because he could not afford to continue his education.
She said the organization considered it a moral responsibility to stand alongside workers fighting for their rights.
Referring to previous movements, Imu said 2 workers were shot dead during a minimum wage movement in 2023, while another worker died during a movement demanding unpaid wages in 2024.
She alleged that attempts were being made to portray workers’ legitimate demands in the current movement as a political conspiracy, while misinformation was being spread to create divisions between students and workers.
Imu also criticized attempts to blame workers participating in the movement for the attack on a Dhaka University bus in Savar. She said students and workers were not opponents, noting that working people had contributed to every democratic movement and mass uprising in the country.
She called for unity between students and workers to address the deprivation faced by working people.
Jahidul Islam Riyad, general secretary of the organization's Dhaka University unit, said workers’ demands for fair wages remained unfulfilled despite changes in government, uprisings and political shifts.
He alleged that an 18-point agreement reached among factory owners, the government and workers following the 2024 workers’ movement had yet to be implemented.
Riyad said factories had failed to ensure safe working conditions despite various promises regarding labor laws and workers’ rights. He added that workers faced dismissal when they tried to assert their rights or organize themselves, leaving their job security uncertain.
Referring to the demand to raise the minimum wage to Tk30,000, he said higher wages for workers would also affect other sections of society.
He added that the workers’ movement was laying the groundwork for students to demand fair wages when they entered the workforce after completing their education. He described Toufiq and the workers participating in the movement as contributors to that effort.
Riyad also said workers’ wages were not increasing in line with rising prices of essential commodities and the cost of living. He urged the government to prioritize workers’ demands and implement them.
The rally called for fair wages, implementation of the 2024 18-point agreement, safe working conditions and job security for workers, and justice for Toufiq's death.