'Mulluke Cholo' dedicated to tea labourers

Recently, a theatrical performance by tea garden workers at the Deondi tea garden in the Chunarughat Upazila of Habiganj, enthralled crowds. The play, Mulluke Cholo, written by Sunil Biswas, was staged, marking Tea Labourers Day, by Habiganj-based troupe Pratik Theatre. Biswas is also the president of the troupe.

May 20, is observed to commemorate the deaths of tea garden workers at the hands of British colonial rulers in 1921 during a revolt, when thousands of tea labourers left their work and gathered in the Chandpur River Port to go back to their homelands.

Initially, tea labourers were brought from different areas of the subcontinent -- Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh -- to work under inhuman conditions in tea gardens.

Special guest, poet-singer Kafil Ahmed spoke at the programme.

Chief Guest, writer Tahmina Begum Gini, urged the tea garden owners to treat workers with dignity.