Ganatantrik Chhatra Jote, an alliance of multiple left-leaning student organisations, staged a protest rally on Wednesday demanding justice for garment worker Toufiq Hossain, who succumbed to injuries sustained in an attack during a movement by garment workers demanding wage hikes in Gazipur.
The protest was held in front of the Raju Sculpture at Dhaka University in the afternoon. During the programme, the protesters demanded an end to “police and ruling-party attacks and repression” against workers and called for setting the minimum monthly wage at Tk 30,000.
Leaders and activists of different levels of the alliance were present at the protest.
Calling on the authorities to accept workers’ legitimate demands instead of portraying their movement as a political conspiracy, Rafiqujjaman Farid, coordinator of Chhatra Jhot and general secretary of the Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, said workers’ movements were being labelled as conspiracies by different political parties at different times.
“When workers take to the streets to realise their demands, their movements are being described as conspiracies by the Awami League at one time and by BNP-Jamaat at another. During the previous Awami League government, workers’ movements were also portrayed as conspiracies. The current government is making similar statements,” he said.
Referring to allegations that workers were being tracked down at their homes, assaulted and arrested, he said, “A fair trial must be ensured for the killing of Toufiq. At the same time, police and ruling-party activists’ attacks, repression and arrests of workers must be stopped.”
He further said workers were being asked to wait until December or January for a decision on their wages, while initiatives had already been taken to increase government employees’ salaries and announce a new pay scale.
“The minimum wage for workers must be announced at Tk 30,000 by November,” he added.
Muzammel Haque, convener of the Dhaka University unit of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, said it had become difficult for workers to meet their basic needs and those of their families with their current wages amid rising commodity prices.
“Considering the realities of workers’ livelihoods, the minimum wage must be raised to Tk 30,000 without delay,” he said.
After the rally, leaders and activists of the alliance set off in a procession towards Paltan to express solidarity with the ongoing protest programmes of workers there.