A mother’s cry for justice, unheard

For the last seven years, on April 24, Nurjahan Begum visits Bazar Bus Stand area in Savar early in the morning. There, with a photo of her daughter, Selina, in her hand, the 60-year-old stands in front of a vacant site while tears roll down her cheeks.

Nurjahan lost her daughter in the Rana Plaza building collapse -- the deadliest industrial disaster in the country's history.

Yesterday, the mother also visited the site. In tears, she prayed for her daughter and for all those who have died and were injured in the tragic incident.

Nurjahan demanded justice and sought exemplary punishment for the building owner, Sohel Rana, and all those responsible.

"It's been eight years… I want justice for Selina…," she told this correspondent yesterday. She said her another daughter, who used to work at the building, also got injured in the building collapse.

"My injured daughter did not receive any compensation. The government does not pay heed to cry for justice," she said.

This correspondent also spoke to some survivors of the tragedy. They all echoed Nurjahan.

Aroti Begum, who worked at the sixth floor of the building and lost her right leg in the incident, said, "Even though many of us lost the ability to work and support our families, no initiative has been taken for our rehabilitation."

Meanwhile, eighth anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy was observed in a limited scale yesterday due to the pandemic.

In the morning, 18 workers' organisations under the banner of "Sramik Samannay Parishad" placed wreaths at the base of a temporary memorial at the site where at least 1,136 people were killed and over 2,500 were injured when Rana Plaza collapsed.

Victims and families of the deceased were also present.

Workers' organisations have long been demanding maximum punishment for those responsible including the building owner, compensation and rehabilitation for injured victims and deceased's families, life-long free treatment for workers, a hospital for workers at the site and declaration of April 24 as "National Workers' Mourning Day".

"We have been pressing for our demands for a long time but those are yet to be met," said Rafiqul Islam Sujan, president of Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation.

He urged the government to provide assistance to the victims and their families, who are going through a hard time amid the pandemic.