Five workers died and 23 were injured during clashes between the police and workers of theBanshkhali Power Plant in Chattogram. The police opened fire on workers who had been stagingdemonstrations in demand of arrears and allowances owed to them. Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK)expresses grave condemnation over the incident.

According to media report, the incident took place on 17 April around morning 10 am. Theadditional police super of Chattogram informed the media that since 16 April the workers of thepower plant had been agitated over the issue of their arrears and allowances. In this context, onthe morning of 17 April, worker leaders had started discussions with the local administration. Healso said that it was during these discussions that clashes broke out with the police. Till now, five(5) workers have been reported dead from the police firing while twenty-three (23) more workershave been injured and are receiving medical treatment at various hospitals. The situation in thearea has been very tense since the clash. Thirty to thirty-five thousand villagers had surroundedthe coal power plant after the incident. The coal power plant is a joint project by S Alam Groupowned SS Power Limited and two Chinese firms. It should be noted that, four (4) people werekilled previously on 4 April 2016, during clashes between villagers and the police over theconstruction of the said power plant.

ASK believes that it is the right of workers to demonstrate in demand of their rightful wages. Itshould be the police’s role to create an enabling environment for these workers to properlyexercise their right. It is reprehensible that at a time when thousands of workers in the countryare living through a precarious situation, unable to work due to COVID-19, the police chose toopen fire on these workers who were demanding wages for the work that they had done.

Although it is the duty of the police to ensure that citizens can exercise their constitutional rightsproperly, instead, they frequently resort to heavy-handed tactics in response to such meetings,assemblies, protests, and demonstrations. The police’s firing on the protesting workers, whichled to the death of five, is completely unacceptable. ASK demands the authorities to ensure a fairand impartial investigation into the matter. It further urges the authorities to issue effectivedirectives to law enforcement agencies regarding how to respond to movements, protests anddemonstrations without resorting to the use of firearms.

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