Bangla Apparel Headed for Internal Turmoil as Links with Awami League Come Home to Roost

Bangladesh's readymade garments (RMG) industry grew by a whopping 280% during the 15-year tenure of Sheikh Hasina Wazed's Awami League. Both the League and the RMG industry fed off each other, but with Hasina being ousted and public sentiments overwhelmingly against the Awami League, the country's political turmoil is bound to take its toll on the RMG industry.

Subir Ghosh

8 August 2024

5 minutes

Long Story, Cut Short

The apparel industry and the Awami League have held sway over each other. The AL had ruled the country for the last 15 years, with almost 30 of its leaders already killed in the violence that escalated after PM Sheikh Hasina Wazed fled 5 August.
The battle for power over the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is bound to intensify over the coming days.
The current BGMEA dispensation will remain in the saddle, till another tide hits it. But realpolitik comes with its own momentum.

The political turmoil in Bangladesh has already seen the incumbent prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, feeling the country. As a new interim government takes over, all eyes will be on the country's readymade garments (RMG) industry, which serves as the de facto backbone of the country's economy.

Taking Over The political turmoil in Bangladesh has already seen the incumbent prime minister, Sheikh Hasina Wazed, fleeing the country. As a new interim government takes over, all eyes will be on the country's readymade garments (RMG) industry, which serves as the de facto backbone of the country's economy. Courtesy Reuters

The readymade garments (RMG) sector in Bangladesh—the country's only industry worth the name—is set to be cleaved asunder by the ongoing political strife there that has split the South Asian nation apart and extracted a heavy and bloody toll.

The public mood in Bangladesh is overwhelmingly against the Awami League—the party that ruled the country with an iron hand for 15 years, and almost 30 leaders of the League have already been killed in the violence that escalated after prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed fled on 5 August.

As garment factories remained shut in the last bout of week-long violence, leaders of the RMG industry tried to put up a brave front, insisting it would be business as usual.

The veneer came off on Wednesday when an irate group of members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) revolted and expressed their "no confidence" in the existing board of directors of the trade body—the face of the country's RMG brand.

The group was led by a former BGMEA vice-president, Faisal Samad, whose Forum bloc had lost the last elections to the association earlier this year. Their ire was directed at the BGMEA president, SM Mannan Kochi, who they said had fired at student protestors recently. Kochi is general secretary of the Dhaka City North Awami League, and is currently said to be in Singapore for his son's treatment.

A perturbed BGMEA issued a press release saying: "This horrific event has further tarnished the international credibility of the largest foreign currency earner of the country. The people were seen to engage in violent behaviour including toppling the security gate, getting into fist fights and unlawfully demanding the takeover of the current board. Staff and board members who witnessed this violence are in a state of shock… We condemn such atrocious behaviour and identify these preparators similar to those who are intentionally triggering unrest and hindering the reformation of our country in these trying times."

Samad told the Business Standard newspaper: "In the context of change, the garment sector is facing multifaceted challenges. But the initiative of the BGMEA president was not seen to deal with these, because he was in the field with political programmes. This important sector of the economy is not important to him. At the same time, where he is at present, BGMEA members do not know."

The battle for power over the BGMEA is bound to intensify over the coming days, once things begin to fall in place with the interim government headed by Nobel laureate and economist Muhammad Yunus being sworn in later today.

Ghosts of the Awami League

The birth of the Bangladesh's RMG industry obviously long predates the last Hasina regime, but it was during the period that the industry grew the most—both in numbers and stature.

When Hasina took over as prime minister in January 2009, the export value of the RMG industry was $12347.77 million, accounting for 79.33% of the country's exports. This shot up by about 280% to $46,991.61 million in 2022–23, with RMG exports accounting for 84.58% of total exports.

Ironically, the Tazreen Fashion factory fire of November 2012 and the Rana Plaza collapse of April 2013 also happened during the Awami League rule. The tragic Rana Plaza collapse brought about a lot of changes, especially in helping industry clean up its act. But detractors say that the ones actually responsible got away. The only scapegoat of the incident was one Sohel Rana, who was—ironically—a youth leader of the Awami League. But civic and local authorities escaped scot-free.

It is true that both the apparel industry and the Awami League have held sway over each other. The current BGMEA president mentioned earlier (Kochi) is an influential Awami League leader.

Over a dozen business leaders from the RMG industry were elected to the 12th Parliament in January this year—an election that was boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and saw a dismal turnout of a paltry 28%. Allegations of widespread rigging and propping up of dummy candidates marred the elections. The RMG leaders who made it to the Jatiya Sangsad belonged to the Grand Alliance led by the Awami League.

Salman F Rahman, vice-chairman of Beximco Group, won as the Awami League candidate from Dhaka-1 (Dohar and Nawabganj) constituency.
Commerce minister of the outgoing parliament and Sepal Group Managing Director Tipu Munshi was elected as Awami League candidate from Rangpur-4 (Pirgacha and Kaunia) constituency.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the last parliament and founder of Renaissance Group Md Shahriar Alam won the Rajshahi-6 (Bagha and Charghat) seat as an Awami League candidate.
AK Azad, founder of the Ha-meem Group, won from the Faridpur-3 (Sadar) constituency as an independent candidate.
Mohammad Khosru Chowdhury, chairman of the Nipa Group and director of the BGMEA, won the Dhaka-18 (DNCC part and Airport) seat as an independent candidate. Chowdhury was Dhaka Metropolitan North Awami League’s Industry and Commerce Secretary.
Abdus Salam, founding chairman of Well Group, was elected as an independent candidate from Chittagong-8 (Chandgaon and Boalkhali) constituency.
Chairman of Shasha Denims and Co-Chairman of Jatiya Party, Anisul Islam Mahmud, was elected from Chittagong-5 (Hathazari) constituency.
Former BGMEA president and Managing Director of Envoy Group Abdus Salam Murshedy was elected as the Awami League candidate from the Khulna-4 (Rupsha, Dighalia, Terkhada) constituency.
President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Managing Director of Wisdom Apparels Limited AKM Salim Osman was elected from the Jatiya Party in Narayanganj-5 (Sadar, Bandar, and part of NCC) constituency.
Abdul Momin Mondol, managing director of the Mandal Group, won as an Awami League candidate from Sirajganj-5 (Belkuchi and Chauhali) constituency.
Fayzur Rahman Badal, managing director of Tusuka Group, was elected from Brahmanbaria-5, Choyon Islam of Sparrow Group from Sirajganj-6, Mujibor Rahman of Smart Group from Chittagong-16 and Dewan Zahid Ahmed Tulu of Axis Knitwear from Manikganj-2 constituency also won.

A lot of the public anger has been directed at Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Here, a statue of his is seen being pulled down by agitators. Courtesy Reuters

Industry on tenterhooks

Now that the Parliament has been dissolved and the Awami League is unlikely to be part of the interim government, the fate of all these RMG leaders now hangs in balance.

Whether a witch-hunt will be carried out against RMG leaders with direct or indirect links to the disgraced Awami League will depend considerably on the level of sanity that Yunus may (or may not) be able to restore. The chances of such an eventuality seem remote given the hostility and distrust that people from all walks of life seem to harbour against the Awami League. In such a situation, such businessmen would either have to lie low or simply switch sides—as unabashedly as possible—to the rival BNP camp that is likely to call the shots now on.

The current BGMEA dispensation will remain in the saddle, till another tide hits it—hard. But realpolitik comes with its own momentum. The "united" face that the BGMEA had been putting up could well have been just another Awami League cloak. It may come off sooner than later.

Subir Ghosh

SUBIR GHOSH is a Kolkata-based independent journalist-writer-researcher who writes about environment, corruption, crony capitalism, conflict, wildlife, and cinema. He is the author of two books, and has co-authored two more with others. He writes, edits, reports and designs. He is also a professionally trained and qualified photographer.

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