A REPORT in The New Nation on Sunday said Tazreen Fashions Managing Director Delwar Hossain and his wife and Chairman of the firm Mahmuda Akhter have surrendered to the court and have been sent to jail. Reports on Monday again said Mahmuda had been granted bail while Delwar remained in custody. Earlier, more than a year after the fire on November 24, 2012 police filed charges of culpable homicide against the Tazreen factory owners along with 11 other associates. On December last year a Dhaka court issued a warrant of arrest against six of them, including the Chairman and the Managing Director in connection with the fire. This came following the horrific fire which took at least 112 lives and injured over 200 overnight as workers could not escape the devastating fire in the factory at Ashulia, in the outskirts of the capital.On that fateful night, more than 1,150 people were working in the eight storied factory to fill orders from famous international brands and clients like Walmart. When the fire broke out and alarms rang, some supervisors ordered the employees to ignore the alarm and continue to work. When the fire spread, workers found themselves trapped in smoke-filled staircases or behind windows blocked by iron grills.The event shocked people the world over. Meanwhile, garment factories in Bangladesh have been variously described as “death traps” and a ‘scandal’ industry by leading global media like New York Times and The Guardian. This is deeply humiliating for Bangladesh, but neither the government nor the BGMEA — the apex body of the industry has anything honest to offer in self-defense. Meanwhile, Bangladesh has seen a series of human catastrophes in the garment industry, coming one after another. Less than a year ago the Rana Plaza disaster took over a thousand souls to shake the world again, but no sign of substantial repatriation in particular for the victims and no precautionary measures are visible so far. As we see, there are two sides to be held responsible. In the first place, the government and the owners must be accountable for the workers’ lives. But, the giant brands and glamorous global fashion houses can hardly deny that these labourers laid down their lives in the sweatshops to make available cheaper clothing for them. Workers work at low cost in unsafe places because buyers are forcing producers here to make the clothes cheaply. For the fire and safety of buildings punishing the few private individuals is not the only answer. Punish those officials also who are responsible for the construction of the building and ensuring safe exit from the factory. They should be taken to task.
