Rana Plaza Disaster
Inna lillahiwainnailayhirajiun
Surely we belong to God, and surely to Him we return
The tragedy that has befallen the unfortunate souls of the Dhaka garment factory is shocking and betrays the human conscience. Much mourning is under way, as is the clamour for answers, recrimination, justice and transformation. For the record, it is important to outline here what is known so far, but also to make strategic observations that speak to the system as well as our different, active roles in maintaining that system.
At 9 in the morning of Wednesday 24th April, an eight story tower block in Savar, a short drive from Dhaka collapsed over the heads of more than 3000 people. This has caused the deaths of officially 400, but potentially more than 1000, nearly all of whom were garments workers, the lions share of which are expected to be women. This, Bangladesh’s largest industrial disaster, came just five months to the day after the Tazreen factory fire which killed more than 117, and little more than a year after the torture and killing of garments worker organiserAminul Islam. The episode provides a deadly and vivid self-portrait of the dangerous conditions, and the underlying structural causes of suffering that greet the working poor in plutocratic Bangladesh every day.
Apparently built upon a filled-in canal, as much of the first grade land in Bangladesh has already been built upon, the Rana Plaza building occupied a prime location in Savar, and was always going to have problems, especially as it was built three storeys over its building permit. The owner, against whom there are many allegations ranging from murder to smuggling and land theft, is said to have been warned a day before the disaster of the danger posed by cracks in the building, but shrugged them off. Further down the power chain, workers at the five garments factories were physically intimidated into work that day.
Wider society, both inside Bangladesh and outside, mourn in various ways, most through
Surely we belong to God, and surely to Him we return
The tragedy that has befallen the unfortunate souls of the Dhaka garment factory is shocking and betrays the human conscience. Much mourning is under way, as is the clamour for answers, recrimination, justice and transformation. For the record, it is important to outline here what is known so far, but also to make strategic observations that speak to the system as well as our different, active roles in maintaining that system.
At 9 in the morning of Wednesday 24th April, an eight story tower block in Savar, a short drive from Dhaka collapsed over the heads of more than 3000 people. This has caused the deaths of officially 400, but potentially more than 1000, nearly all of whom were garments workers, the lions share of which are expected to be women. This, Bangladesh’s largest industrial disaster, came just five months to the day after the Tazreen factory fire which killed more than 117, and little more than a year after the torture and killing of garments worker organiserAminul Islam. The episode provides a deadly and vivid self-portrait of the dangerous conditions, and the underlying structural causes of suffering that greet the working poor in plutocratic Bangladesh every day.
Apparently built upon a filled-in canal, as much of the first grade land in Bangladesh has already been built upon, the Rana Plaza building occupied a prime location in Savar, and was always going to have problems, especially as it was built three storeys over its building permit. The owner, against whom there are many allegations ranging from murder to smuggling and land theft, is said to have been warned a day before the disaster of the danger posed by cracks in the building, but shrugged them off. Further down the power chain, workers at the five garments factories were physically intimidated into work that day.
Wider society, both inside Bangladesh and outside, mourn in various ways, most through