Injured victims of the Rana Plaza collapse, along with the families of those missing and killed, staged a token sit-in at the Central Shaheed Minar on Friday demanding their dues, Eid bonuses, promised compensation and rehabilitation.
Some 70 workers and family members of the victims gathered at the location around 11am and continued till 4pm, urging the government and the garment owners to realise their demands immediately.
Politicians, professionals and academicians expressed solidarity with them, and urged the government to streamline the compensation and rehabilitation activities, and ensure transparency in distribution.
Jahangirnagar University teachers Prof Anu Muhammad, Prof Nasim Akhter Hossain, activists Rahnuma Ahmed, Arup Rahee, and left leaders Razequzzaman Ratan, Khalequzzaman and Manzurul Ahsan Khan spoke at the programme among others.
At least 1,130 workers of five garment factories housed in Rana Plaza were killed in the deadly collapse on April 24, when more than 2,500 injured people were rescued from the debris. Many bodies could not be identified, while several hundred others are still missing.
The demonstrators on Wednesday and Thursday staged mass sit-in programme in front of Rana Plaza over the same demands. On Monday and Sunday, police charged batons on them for trying to block the Dhaka-Aricha highway.
Speakers at the sit-in declared a march from Adhar Chandra School in Savar (where the bodies were kept after the collapse) to Rana Plaza for August 23.
Prof Anu Muhammad said the prime minister and leaders of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) were making "random" statements on the compensation issue.
He criticised them for not making any specific announcements on how much money would be given, when and to whom. He demanded that the activities were conducted in front of media and in a transparent manner.
Prof Anu, who teaches economics at JU, assessed that if the amount, donated to the prime minister’s fund for the Rana Plaza victims, was disseminated among the families of the deceased, each would get at least Tk1m.
He said the workers were not begging alms but were demanding their dues.
He also hoped that the government and the BGMEA would take measures to confiscate the assets and property of the five garments’ owners and the building owner, and distribute the money among the victims and their families.