The Bengali is a forgetful nation! Our public memory is far more
short-lived than that of an aquarium goldfish which completely forgets
about the things it sees in the other corner of the aquarium it has just
left. We, the Bengali people do the likewise!
Every year we are faced
with many natural and man-made disasters which we dismiss from our mind
much before the wounds are healed. With the passage of a few years we
have witnessed at least half a dozen mad-made disasters in
Bangladesh—Pilkhana tragedy claiming 74 lives, Neemtoli tragedy 124,
Mirsarai tragedy 48, Tazreen Fashion tragedy158, Chittagong Flyover
tragedy 25, and the hitherto last Savar tragedy– where the death toll
keeps rising (while the piece is being written) and may equal or double
the number of all former five or even more! That we are vulnerable to
and unprotected from the natural calamities causing heavy casualties due
to the adverse effects of the global climatic changes brought about by
the industrial emissions can be a pretty acceptable phenomenon. But to
fall prey to similar kinds of man-made disasters repeatedly cannot be
acceptable by any manner of means. But we are stoically accepting them
like the gold fish stranded in the aquarium revolving around the same
circle vainly trying to find an exit.
If we had not forgotten the Tazreen Fashion tragedy, and had taken
preventive measures to avoid identical damage, we could have very likely
escaped the Savar tragedy. But it is a big if—the target to escape the
tragic fall remains unachievable. The recent Savar incident is the most
glaring example of this. Tragedy struck the whole nation and we were too
stunned to speak when we saw an eight-storey building was reduced to
rubble by a sudden collapse. It was a great shock to the system to see
piles of the dead bodies being pulled out from the wreckage. Many people
have been crushed to death when the ceiling suddenly caved in on top of
them. They were flattened with other furniture and met with violent
death. Many bodies were torn apart while many were ground between
concrete floors like corn ground between the millstones. Though deaths
are always painful, but some are more painful than others. The Rana
Plaza deaths are far more distressing, far more afflictive. Many died by
knocking their heads or chests on or against the beams or walls or
floors or roofs,and many died for want of food or drink or oxygen
languishing in the collapsed building’s dark holes. Phone calls coming
from many undetected concrete cavities asking SOS remained unattended
and finally got reduced to a deathly hush. This is called dying by
inches! Horrific! And it is the most unscrupulous fact that all, who
have died and who have escaped badly hurt, had been put to the situation
under duress. This is a sort of killing! A manslaughter! A culpable
homicide which our factory workers usually fall victim to!
The labour force in Bangladesh has always been in a sorry state. In
the last decade alone, as many as 6000 workers have been killed in
man-made disasters. Though the economic emancipation was one of the
avowed goals of our Independence War, it has been achieved for the
chosen few, not for the general public. The 22 pre-independence business
families have risen to, let’s say, 2200 families and Mr. Sohel Rana of
Rana Plaza must be one of them. They have made a mint on their business
mostly by draining the workers of their energy. This is because of their
insatiable thirst for wealth and schemes to get rich quick, the
labourer’s interests have always been trampled over, whereas the cards
are always stacked in the proud owner’s favour. As a result of this
prolonged plight, the ill-fated factory workers had to dice with death
in order to do their master’s bidding. This is what happened in the case
of the Rana Plaza victims. They were forced to enter the ramshackle
building risking life and limb. Their poverty led them to death whereas
the bank employees who worked in the same building have made good their
escape. The very plan to send them for work was the recipe for disaster.
These wholesale losses of lives in Savar will affect not only the
people who died or are injured but also their families. And that is not
the end of story. The Savar tragedy may directly concern the deaths of a
figure in the hundreds, but indirectly it strikes the death knell of
the entire apparel industry. This bloody massacre of innocent factory
workers will sure hit the RMG (Ready Made Garments) industry, which is
the country’s economic mainstay and is worth $20 billion per annum. We
may be habitually forgetful of things we are worst affected by, but the
world is not like us. The deadlier Bangladesh building collapse has
already shaken up the sensitive and caring people in the world. The
human rights activists have voiced concern about the safety of the
labourers. The US Ambassador Dan Mozena said the Savar incident would
make an impact on the US decision of GSP (Generalized System of
Preferences) facility for Bangladesh. Influenced by the campaigns
conducted by many Western organizations, the buyers may show reluctance
to buy clothes form the killer companies. How this global negative
attitude would serve the interests of Bangladesh garments industry is
readily comprehensible to everybody while it has been going through a
sticky patch for quite a long time for different domestic problems.
Bangladesh RMG industry had an exciting prospect. Statistics show
that the industry that entered the export market in late seventies with
only 9 units and earned 0.069 million American dollars, has developed
apace in the last three decades. The number of RMG units, at present, is
about 5,000 and the export earnings have exceeded about 19 billion US
dollars which is expected to double by 2020 marking Bangladesh as a
tiger economy. 3.6 million workers are employed in the RMG sector, and
76 per cent of our total export is covered by it. Given this phenomenal
growth in the RMG sector, it is easily the highest earning sector in the
economy of Bangladesh. If this image of our RMG industry is tarnished
by this sort of man-made disaster, our economy would have a steep fall.
So to save the economy and thereby to save the country, we must save
the RMG industry, and to save the RMG industry, we must save its
lifeblood—the labour force. But we have miserably failed to save our
workers in the literal sense of the term. The 33 Chilean miners trapped
underground for more than two months were hoisted to safety sixty-five
days after the mine collapse. But we could not save a great many of our
workers for want of necessary equipments and training. We are deplorably
short of what we call DMS (Disaster Management Support). The sharp
increase in the number of natural and man-made disasters in Bangladesh
in recent years underlines the need of more attention to disaster
preparedness activities. We should be more aware of the risks we face,
and work out how to reduce their vulnerability.
The reduction of human vulnerability can also be done by promoting
legal preparedness for disasters. The safety of the environment of the
workplace and the efficiency of emergency responders and the success of
recovery efforts can be underpinned by effective disaster laws.
Savar tragedy is primarily caused by building collapse. But why did
the building collapse without any natural calamity? While all the
skyscrapers of the world are standing still with their heads erect, a
tiny hut in Savar suddenly collapses in a heap! This premature
structural damage is indicative of serious damage to the country’s
administrations where corruption is rampant and the rule of law has gone
into exile. Criminals get off scot-free by virtue of their wealth or
power affiliation. So it’s no wonder that the jerry-built buildings
would be erected overnight showing a total disregard for so-called
building codes and concerned laws.
I think it is time to do away with this culture of nepotism,
favoritism and impunity, and it should begin with trying the ones
responsible for recent Savar serial killing by building collapse. The
organizations like BGMEA (Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and
Exporters Association), BGMA (Bangladesh Garments Merchandiser
Association), BTMA (Bangladesh Textile Mills Association) and FBCCI( The
Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries) should
not only run for profit, but also focus on the worker’s interest
following the basic principle of the ILO( International Labour
Organization) that “labour is not a commodity”. They should take on CSR
(Corporate Social Responsibilities) to serve the related employees,
consumers and communities and all other direct and indirect stakeholders
and to ensure the safety of the workplace. Alongside, Bangladesh labour
and trade union laws should be modified to suit the labourers down to
the ground. It is the labourers who keep the wheels of commerce in
motion. If they are put to difficulties, danger and even deaths through
neglect all too often, the future of our apparel industry would be
bleak.
Dr. Rashid Askari writes fiction and columns and teaches
English literature at Kushtia Islamic University, Bangladesh. Email:
rashidaskari65@yahoo.com
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