Violence cannot redress grievances

I believe you failed to touch on the key issues and took up position with the owners of these factories.

You condemned the poor workers for their natural outburst, on whose toil and blood, garment factory owners have become millionaires. You said that deeper causes must be solved, but failed to mention that the low

wages in the garment sector are due to powerful lobbies who are able to convince the government that an increase would be unproductive.

Over 20 lakh people are employed in this industry and their wages are only

Tk 500 to Tk 1,500 (per month) for a 12 hour day. This equates to a paltry 6 cents per hour, as against 20-78 cents in other countries. Garment factory workers have time and again asked for the legal minimum wage of Tk 930, but the government was very apathetic. Remember that many MPs are garment factory owners.

You also failed to mention that garment owners, while reaping in profits, show little or no regard for the welfare of their employees. In recent years, there has been a large number of deaths of workers due to fire or building collapse. They work long hours in the most unhealthy of environments, are not entitled to public holidays, medical facilities, or even maternity leave.

The unrest and the subsequent violence is the result of years of deprivation, certainly no "mystery".