Diplomatic failure in Kuwait

Tanvir Ahmed / Driknews

We strongly condemn the tyranny unleashed by the Kuwait authorities on the workers of Bangladesh who have been deprived of their legitimate remunerations and other benefits by the employers there. They simply gave vent to their anguish and agony suffered at the hands of the employers in Kuwait for long and certainly did not deserve to be treated like beasts who have been beaten mercilessly by the Kuwait police in captivity. These workers have been subjected to inhuman torture by their employers right under the nose of the Kuwait authorities and perhaps at their behest. It is, therefore, everybody's right to protest against injustice which actually the Bangladeshi workers did. Any protest against injustice is called “Jehad” in Islam. It is highly unfortunate that instead of addressing their legitimate grievances, the authorities there maltreated and sent them back home without any payment even. Most of them could not bring their personal belongings even. Our Prophet (SM) had instructed, “Pay the wages of labour before drying up of his sweat”, whereas the wages of these workers were either not paid or paid partially in violation of contract. In Islam honouring of any lawful contract by both the parties is binding on each other. There were reports that the maids hired in that country from various countries including Bangladesh were treated like slaves and even were subject to sexual abuse ! So what kind of Islamic law is pursued in that country?
The Bangladesh government and particularly the diplomatic staff should be held responsible for the tragedy and their failure to tackle the situation. The diplomatic staff engaged and paid by the countrymen totally failed in their duties to handle the situation.
The allegation against them is the same everywhere, whether it is in Malaysia or in the Middle East ; they do not provide any help to the Bangladeshi expatriates. These workers are keeping the economy of the country running and the country is totally dependent on the foreign exchange earned by these workers. Even the salaries of those diplomats are paid from the hard earnings of those unfortunate workers. Our hearts bleed when we see how shabbily and rudely those workers are treated by the customs and civil aviation personnel at our airports upon arrival. The government should provide a special VIP enclosure at our airports for those great sons of the soil.
We therefore demand that those workers holding legitimate employment visas be allowed to go back to their jobs and paid their contractual wages commensurate with the global inflation and are provided with usual benefits. Those who lost their jobs should be given adequate compensation. Our foreign affairs adviser should shoulder the responsibility of taking up the issue with the government of Kuwait. Our diplomats from those countries must be called back home for their utter failure in handling the situation.