A protest rally was held on Friday in front of Rana Plaza in Savar, organized by the Garments Workers’ Movement. The programme began with the laying of wreaths at the memorial built in honour of the deceased workers.
Members of the Revolutionary Workers’ Movement, Revolutionary Student-Youth Movement, Naya Ganatantrik Gonamorchha, and Badal Shah Alam, editor of Khonon magazine, addressed the rally.
Speakers said that on April 24, 2013, a brutal tragedy took place in Bangladesh’s garment industry when the Rana Plaza building collapsed, killing 1,136 workers and injuring more than 2,500 others. Many of the injured have been permanently disabled and continue to live under inhumane conditions. Although building owner and Jubo League leader Sohel Rana was arrested, justice has yet to be delivered.
They added that deaths due to building collapses and factory fires—such as at Spectrum, Hamim, Garib & Garib, Tazreen, Rana Plaza, and Tampaco—have continued over the years, highlighting the lack of safety for workers. This, they said, reflects the extreme profit-driven mindset of factory owners, foreign buyers, the ruling class, and the state.
Speakers further alleged that adequate compensation and rehabilitation have not been ensured for disabled workers, and that 48% of Rana Plaza workers remain unemployed. Despite living in severe hardship, they claimed that previous governments and the interim administration failed to address the problems of injured and disabled workers, and that the current BNP government has no visible programme regarding casualties in such incidents.
Addressing workers, the speakers said that the interests of workers, peasants, and oppressed people cannot be safeguarded by what they described as ruling classes aligned with imperialist and expansionist forces. They called on all to join the struggle for establishing a democratic state, constitution, and government free from such influences.