Cornered, policemen try to fend off attack from demonstrators near Shibu Market at Fatullah of Narayanganj during yesterday's clashes between garment workers and law enforcers.Photo: STAR

More than 50 people including 27 law enforcers were injured yesterday, with four of them having shotgun pellet wounds, in yet another series of clashes between several thousand garment industry workers and police at Fatullah of Narayanganj near the capital.
The three-hour clash, that ensued after police had tried to refrain a group of garment workers from demonstrating for a salary hike adjustment on a par with other garment factories in the area, turned Dhaka-Narayanganj link road at Shibu Market area into a virtual battlefield.
Police fired shotguns and charged batons when several thousand demonstrating workers attacked the law enforcers with sticks and brickbats during the clash, which local residents alleged had been incited by Sramik Kalyan Federation, labour front of Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami.
Witnesses said a group of pajama-panjabi clad bearded young men armed with sticks of garan wood attacked the law enforcers.
The demonstrating workers set fire to felled tree trunks snapping vehicular traffic on the highway. Long traffic jams formed in both directions of the road causing terrible sufferings for commuters.
Three garment workers -- Sohel Rana, Yousuf, and Nurul Islam, and police constable Quaium -- were hit with shotgun pellets. The injured were undergoing treatment in different hospitals in the capital and Narayanganj.
Police, witnesses and garment workers said the workers of Microfiber Garments came out of the factory and started demonstrating demanding that their salary hike follow the standard set by another garment factory in the area. Referring to Metro Garment's salary hike of Tk 250, the demonstrating workers said their factory owner increased their salary by only Tk 200.
The workers said their anger was ignited by the factory authorities' rough behaviour with them and by the authorities' threat of police harassment as they went to the management for adjustment in their salary increase.
The angry workers came out of the factory and along with workers of some other garment factories attacked and ransacked several factories including Metro Garment, and vandalised some passing buses on the road, the witnesses said. Around 9:00am the demonstrators blocked the busy Dhaka-Naraynganj link road.
When police tried to intervene, the demonstrators staged a sit-in on the highway continuing to block it. At one point of the altercation the demonstrators beat up Assistant Superintendent of Police Mir Mohammad Towhid, and Officer-in-charge of Fatullah Police Station Bhuiyan Mahabub Hasan.
Witnesses said a few panjabi-pajama clad bearded young men were seen beating the policemen with sticks.
The bearded men then tried to drag away four to five policemen including the two officials to a secluded place tearing their uniforms, prompting police to open fire from shotguns.
The clash spread rapidly as soon as police fired rubber bullets. The law enforcers were caught in a helpless situation with a huge number of workers attacking them with brick bats and sticks from many sides. A large number of police and Rab personnel were deployed to tackle the situation, which led to innumerable chases and counter chases between the angry workers and law enforcers.
Around 11:00am a contingent of army personnel from Fatullah arrived at the spot and tried to calm the workers. The situation came under control after members of law enforcing agencies contacted labour leaders Advocate Mahabubur Rahman and Advocate Mantu Ghosh, who assured the workers of solving their problem by sitting with Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).
Jamaat's district unit Amir Maulana Mainuddin denied the allegation of their labour wing's involvement in the attack on the law enforcement. "We were not involved in it," he told reporters.
BKMEA President Fazlul Haque, however, told reporters that the unrest might have been the result of a 'political provocation', although he did not comment on the allegation that Jamaat's labour wing was involved in it.
"We sympathise with their demands. But our condition should also be considered. Prices of raw materials like cotton and chemicals increased, but prices of garments did not," Fazlu said.
Bangladesh Textile Garment Workers' Federation President Advocate Mahabubur Rahman said the labour unrest was sparked by price hikes of essentials.