Top business leaders yesterday pleaded with the major political parties to immediately sort out their differences and put an end to the ongoing deadly violence for the sake of the economy and the country.
"Political parties will carry out political activities. We have no problem with that. But nobody has the right to destroy the garment sector," said Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
"We can't just stand by and see the garment sector gets destroyed," he said at a media briefing at the headquarters of Bangladesh Garment Manufactures and Exporters Association in the capital.
The business leaders came together at the BGMEA office in the wake of Friday's devastating fire at a garment factory of Standard Group.
At the meeting, they criticised the       political parties bitterly for their failure to reach a consensus and find a solution to     the countrywide violence which, they said, gave the attackers a chance to execute their plot.
Some of them blamed the law enforcement agencies for failure to prevent the   sabotage, the latest blow to the already  troubled garment industry, meeting sources said.
BGMEA President Atiqul Islam backed Akram, urging the political parties to take immediate steps to stop violence that has led to lawlessness across the country.
"The violence must come to an end now. If the garment sector survives, its workers, the economy and the country will survive, as no other sector has thrived in the country," Islam said, adding that the sector can't be a victim of the squabbles between the political parties.