Bangladesh garment workers go on rampage, ministers blame Hasina

In Bangladesh, garment industry workers have been on the rampage for the last three days. They blocked highways, vandalised vehicles, including police cars, clashed with cops, burnt down a warehouse and vandalised a factory. The violent protests, demanding higher wages, have brought large parts of its vital manufacturing sector to a standstill. The protests, which continued for the third day on Monday, come amid a prolonged economic slowdown, and just ahead of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's proclaimed return to Bangladesh from exile in India.
garment workers staged demonstrations and blocked roads in Dhaka's Mirpur, Savar-Ashulia and Gazipur, demanding a minimum monthly wage of Tk 30,000. The protests disrupted traffic, while clashes with police and incidents of vandalism were also reported. Amid the protests, security forces have alleged that supporters of the banned Awami League, including former ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, are instigating the unrest. The government has claimed that the demonstrations are part of attempts to create instability in the country.
As this happened, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held a meeting with senior ministers on Sunday, during which he said attempts were being made to destabilise the country ahead of December and linked the ongoing garment sector unrest to these developments. Rahman also linked the situation to Hasina, who is currently in India and has announced her return to Bangladesh in December. Bangladesh Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the agitation was being incited from across the border.He held a meeting with garment factory owners at the Secretariat on Monday morning However, factory owners have expressed difficulties in meeting the demand, citing a decline in orders, stagnant prices and high costs of importing raw materials. They have maintained that these factors make a substantial wage increase difficult.Bangladesh  is now among the world's largest garment exporters, with the sector accounting for more than 80 per cent of the country's total export earning