Slave labor: a disgrace to humanity

The deadly collapse of Rana Plaza garment factory complex in Bangladesh on April 24, 2013 (Photo: AFP)

A dreadful, black day passed silently in Bangladesh last week with little to no remembrance, largely because the Covid-19 pandemic has put everything on the back burner.

Seven years ago, on April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza garment factory complex collapsed at Savar, an industrial suburb near capital Dhaka. One of the worst industrial disasters in history brutally killed more than 1,100 workers and injured thousands more.

We soon realized that the Rana Plaza collapse was an accident but an avoidable tragedy — the greed of the complex owner and factory management forced poor workers to return to work and die despite cracks in the building appearing a day before.

On that day I stood near the ill-fated building benumbed as frantic rescue attempts were made to pull survivors from the concrete rubble.

In the following weeks I was heartbroken to witness families and relatives crying after identifying dear ones among dozens of decomposed bodies.

I became speechless when partially and fully paralyzed workers and orphaned children of Rana Plaza workers narrated their plight.

As a human being, I felt ashamed and disgraced to witness this unacceptable tragedy, which I believe was a collective failure of humanity.