Victims demonstrate for dues, compensation

A group of survivors of the Rana Plaza tragedy and family members of the deceased and missing workers demonstrated in Savar Monday, demanding payment of their dues, Eid bonuses, and compensation.   Around 300 workers took position on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway for two hours from 8am. Police tried to disperse the crowd with batons but the protestors broke through the barricade.   They brought out a rally from the Rana Plaza premises under the banner of 'Revolutionary Workers Committee' blocking the Dhaka “ Aricha highway for 30 minutes, leading to severe traffic congestion and causing inconvenience road-users.   One survivor, Monir, who used work on the fourth floor of the Rana plaza, told Dhaka Tribune: "Police confined us for 20 minutes in an alley beside the collapsed Rana Plaza premises."   Another survivor named Saidul, who used to work on the sixth floor, said: "We are demonstrating for valid reasons. Although the government and Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) assured us they would compensate us and pay our due salaries, the police charged us with batons and kept obstructing us repeatedly."   Many of the injured survivors said they were feeling helpless as BGMEA took away their identity cards without paying the dues.   Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, survivors Yeasmin, Nurbanu, Lovely, Zarina, Arzina, and Mukta, said they decided to go to the demonstration because the job at Rana Plaza was their sole source of income for living and running their families.   Earlier, on Sunday, they demonstrated for the same cause and police also charged them with batons, leaving 20 injured.   Police said they charged batons to clear the highway for the people who were on their way home for Eid.   At least 1,132 people, mostly garment workers, died and 2,438 were rescued from the debris of the nine-storey Rana Plaza which collapsed on April 24. The tragedy is considered to be the deadliest garment-factory accident in modern human history.