Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami and leader of the opposition Shafiqur Rahman has commented that although everyone forgets the demands of the workers 364 days a year, on the first of May they come down to the Maidan with compassion and sincerity. He said, no society can be sustainable by ignoring the needs and dignity of workers.
Shafiqur Rahman said these things at a labor rally organized at the south gate of National Mosque Baitul Mukarram in the capital on Friday. Bangladesh Workers Welfare Federation organized this rally on the occasion of International Workers Day on May 1.
Shafiqur Rahman said, ‘Expatriates earn money by working hard abroad. With that money, they sent it to the country instead of building a palace abroad. But these remittance fighters are not given due status. Even if there are missions, high commissions, embassies or big officials abroad, expatriates have to suffer. When they went to renew their passports, they were caught by the brokers and suffered irony. If someone loses their job due to related or unrelated reasons, there is no one to stand by them.’
Jamaat Amir complained that the demands of expatriates are not being discussed properly. He said, ‘The dignity of expatriates should be ensured. Let the country and the government stand by their needs. In countries where embassies cannot deal with expatriate issues, there is no need to have embassies. The job of the embassy is not to nurture some officials, but to protect the interests of the people of the country.
Regarding Labor Day, Shafiqur Rahman said, ‘140 years have passed since the painful incident in Chicago. Every year Labor Day is celebrated all over the world. The United Nations has recognized it as an international day. Leaders of various political parties, including the government party, opposition parties, participated in workers’ rallies in different countries and promised to alleviate the suffering of the workers. If even 1/10th of their promise was fulfilled in 140 years, then the workers would have no more claim left.’
The opposition leader said, ‘Those who claim to be leftists in different parts of the world, struggle more with the rights of workers. Now Bangladesh, before that Pakistan it has been going on consistently. Whenever an issue comes up, the leaders of the left party come forward. Then the movement escalated, the field heated up, some people lost their lives, some people were injured. And some people lose their jobs. But the leaders got their share in the darkness of the night, they were satisfied with their share. They blackmailed the movement that developed then. In this way, even though the faces of leaders have changed over the years, the fate of ordinary workers has not changed.
Jamaat Amir also said, ‘They (Leftist leaders) raised the voice of class struggle again. They said that the class enemy must be eliminated. Who are the enemies? The enemy is the owner. Well, if the owner is not there, where will the worker work? We do not believe in the politics of that end. We believe in the politics of mutual respect, dignity and love.’
Jamaat Amir said, if the owner is fair to the workers, the workers will work. But if the owner cheats the worker, then the worker will not do anything for the owner at his best. Both will suffer.
The opposition leader said that the parliament will be the focal point of everything in parliamentary politics. The opposition party did not go to parliament to gossip or to be masters of history. The opposition party went there to speak for the suffering people. Workers’ rights will continue to be fought inside and outside Parliament. As long as the justice and dignity of the workers is not established, the struggle will continue.
Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, Deputy Amir A.M. Shamsul Islam, Assistant Secretary General Rafiqul Islam Khan, Amir Nurul Islam Bulbul of Dhaka Metropolitan South, Amir Salim Uddin of Dhaka Metropolitan North, Secretary of Islami Chhatrashibir Sibgatullah and others addressed the rally under the chairmanship of Atiqur Rahman, president of the organizing organization.
