Bangladesh
Garment Workers Bangladesh will seek an explanation from the US regarding Kalpana Akhtar
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, 23 November 2023: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam said that the statement given by the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that garment workers leader Kalpana Akhter feels threatened in Bangladesh, will be sought from the US government.
He said this at a press briefing after a meeting with Commonwealth representatives at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. US President Joe Biden has signed a new memorandum on workers' rights and their advancement around the world. Blinken spoke about this after the publication of the memorandum. In his speech, the issue of Bangladesh labor leader Kalpana Akhter came up.
Asked about this, the state minister said, "We will ask the United States about this in the next discussion. If my memory is not wrong, Kalpana Akhtar was arrested once in Bangladesh, in 2010. But he was not alone, several labor leaders were arrested for protesting while on duty."
Shahriar Alam said, "Later, the case against the arrested was dropped. You know, the chaos in the ready-made garment sector is very temporary in nature. It starts suddenly and stops again. But after the Rana Plaza collapse. When some buyers from Western countries refused to pay financial compensation, Kalpana Akhtar and one or two others were arrested in the US for protesting."
He said, "That's why we will ask the United States to explain what Kalpana Akhtar said that she was threatened by us or someone else. Kalpana Akhtar is leading an NGO to ensure labor rights in Bangladesh with great success. Police or law enforcement in Bangladesh. It is the responsibility of the journalists to ask the army record or if you go and ask him whether he said this or not, on what basis he said it."
