Police firing one too many

That said, we now turn to the eruption of labour grievances at a Gazipur sweater factory which led to one worker felled by police bullet fired from inside the gate without provocation. No one in authority could say on whose orders the police opened fire!

Even the police superintendent couldn't say at whose instance the trigger was pulled, even though two senior police officials -- an addl SP and officer in-charge -- were present on the scene. There needs to be thorough investigation with the probe report made public.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

It appears that the authorities summoned the police. And, when the latter locked the gate that the workers scaled the walls to move on to the other side where they began rampaging bringing road traffic to a standstill which too was wrong. But, what had started out as a demand for payment of salary and an end to 'oppression' of workers took a complicated turn with simmering demands for release of arrested workers and withdrawal of cases against 80 workers. Now the volatility is even more pronounced after the death and injuries inflicted in the police firing.

It seems the police have got into the habit of pulling the trigger without trying other means of resolving a crisis situation. Failing persuasion which is the best course to take, they could at the most apply other soft options to weather stone or brick pelting.

Most important of all, has the labour directorate and the industry ministry abdicated their oversight responsibility of ensuring that the workers of garment factories are paid their salaries regularly and that they do their job in reasonably good and secure working conditions? Equally relevantly, the BGMEA must have a role in securing redress of the workers' legitimate demands by engaging the factory owners in the alleviation process. Finally, there should be conflict resolution cells within the factories to swing into trouble-shooting between the employee and the employer on a short notice.