In its first official reaction since the Tuba Group workers started fasting 11 days ago, the BNP yesterday condemned the police attack on the workers, terming it “barbaric.”
“We are seeing a barbaric rule in the country. When common people, political and social organisations are raising their voices demanding the wages and festival bonuses for the workers, a section of BGMEA leaders, being patronised by the government and Tuba garments authorities, have remained silent,” said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party.
According to a press release, he also said: “The police attack on the workers proved that the country was being run by criminals, not by the rule of law.”
The BNP spokesperson said the people of the country firmly believed that if the government pressured the BGMEA, the crisis could be overcome.
The party also demanded immediate payment of the workers dues.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Left Alliance (DLA), a combine of eight left leaning political parties, extended their support for the strike that the protesting workers of Tuba group announced for Saturday. They announced the stance at a protest rally in front of the capital’s National Press Club yesterday.
At a separate rally at the same venue, leaders of the Communist Party of Bangladesh and the Socialist Party of Bangladesh also extended support to the strike.
In another programme in Jessore, Workers Party of Bangladesh Secretary General Fazle Hossain Badsha also condemned the police attack on the fasting Tuba garment workers.
