Khaleda Zia on garment unrest

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has expressed her concern at the recent unrest in the readymade garment sector that resulted in some deaths and massive destruction of property. We fully share her views and support her remarks since it is directed at the major foreign currency earning sector of the country. Her appeal to the owners of garments factories to clear the dues of the workers on time is in essence the crux of the matter, and we urge the owners and the BGMEA to take this advice to avoid further deterioration of the situation.
We are aware of a number of agreements signed by the factory owners, workers' representatives and the government to ensure timely payment of salaries, readjustment of minimum wages, payment of overtime, weekly holidays and so on. Most of these agreements remain to be fully translated into action. We feel unless and until these are made effective, it would be quite difficult to avoid more violence in future. The legal and moral responsibility of taking the right steps, therefore, lies on the shoulders of the factory owners.
The Leader of the Opposition has talked about the possibility of the hands of foreign competitors being behind the creation of a state of anarchy in the garments sector with a far-fetched motive. This is a serious allegation and it deserves to be investigated, and we urge the government to do so. We recall similar incidents of violence taking place in the garments sector during the tenure of her government. It is natural that she would have received intelligence reports about those incidents. Were there indications of "foreign hands" at that time? If yes, what steps did she take?
We would like to suggest that Khaleda Zia can raise these issues more forcefully in parliament and engage the government in useful deliberation for the interest of the country. After all, that is the specified role cut out for the opposition in parliament. The opposition has no right to deprive their voters of its representation in parliament and also has no right to deprive the nation in general of its opinion and wisdom on important national issues by boycotting parliament for no credible reason. If for no other reason then to save the garment industry, among our biggest foreign exchange earners, from "foreign hands," she and her party must raise these issues in parliament.
In conclusion we also wish to note with regret some remarks of the prime minister that were directed against the opposition leader, when the latter failed to show up at the UN Poverty Day function. We think such remarks should not have been made which did not befit the position and status of a prime minister. It only added to further distancing the opposition from the ruling party.