Alpana Akter, 9, and her sister Deepti, 4, do not know what consequences await them in future. They have been crying for their mother Arjina Begum since April 24.
Neither believes that their mother will not return. “My mother cannot be apart from us. She must come back,” said Alpana to her grandmother.
One year ago, poverty stricken Arjina followed her husband Md Alauddin, an apparel worker for three years in Savar, to Dhaka to earn money for the wellbeing of their children.
Alpana and Deepti have been living with their grandmother Rehana Begum in Rangpur. Alpana attends class three at a local government primary school and Deepti has not yet started school.
“Arjina wished to educate her daughters. She knew that she could not look after them because of her job. So she went to Dhaka leaving them with me,” said Rehana, adding that Arjina would send Tk3000-4000 every month for her daughters.
Arjina was killed in the Rana Plaza collapse in Savar on April 24. Her husband identified her body the next day, brought her and buried her at Baro Mirzapur village in the Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur.
A total of 42 men and women from Rangpur division were killed and 20 others are missing following the tragic incident in Savar. In addition, at least 120 people of the region were injured in the incident.
Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur Farid Ahmed said all victims’ families would be rehabilitated very soon. All upzila nirbahi officers were asked to prepare a list of Savar victims who were permanent residents of Rangpur. After completion of the list, rehabilitation would begin, he said.
Meanwhile, a number of economists in Rangpur stated the Savar tragedy will have a long-term socio-economic impact in this region.
Rangpur and its adjacent districts were famine-prone areas even 10-12 years ago. People began to move to Dhaka searching for jobs, mostly in garment factories.
Prof Morshed Hossen from the economics department at Begum Rokeya University said: “Many of them will return from garment factories, and people will not be interested in [joining] garment work. This will create unemployment and social instability.”
