‘Violence’ Breaks Out Over BGMEA Leadership
A fight broke out outside the headquarters of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association in Dhaka on Wednesday after a 100-strong group of members and other individuals led by former vice president Faisal Samad questioned the fitness of the trade group’s leadership and demanded the resignation of its board of directors.
The altercation is a microcosm of the fierce and sometimes deadly backlash that has been mounting against members of the South Asian nation’s once-ruling Awami League, whose increasingly authoritative regime collapsed in spectacular fashion in the wake of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s abrupt flight from office. It took place as Bangladesh’s garment factories resumed operations following the announcement of an interim government advised by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.
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At the center of the schism is SM Mannan Kochi, the Seha Design managing director who succeeded Faruque Hassan in April as president of the BGMEA. Kochi, whose Sammilito Parishad faction swept the organization’s biennial elections by winning all 35 directorship posts, was until recently general secretary of the Awami League’s Dhaka City North arm.
Samad and other members of his Forum faction, which ran against Kochi in March, handed BGMEA employees a memorandum expressing “no confidence” in the current board, a sentiment that they said came to a head after what they allege was Kochi’s involvement in the violent suppression of recent student protests. They said they want to see the formation of an interim board with “honest, efficient and non-political” members.
“We are all aware that the current BGMEA president, SM Mannan Kochi, is the general secretary of the Dhaka City North Awami League. It is very sad that on August 4, Kochi opened fire on students at Mirpur-10,” the missive said. “As the current president and board played a completely opposite role in this historic student movement and mass uprising, they have lost the moral right to continue fulfilling their board responsibilities.”
Kochi did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
But the memorandum’s grouses expand beyond Kochi’s political affiliation. Samad and his fellow dissenters said that Sammilito Parishad wrested power through vote rigging and accused it and the board before it of corruption, cronyism and self-interest. The BGMEA did not offer condolences for the 400-plus deaths that have taken place since the protests began a few weeks ago, they said. Nor has it offered sufficient direction during the multiple production, banking and logistical disruptions that have sapped international buyers’ confidence in the sector’s ability to deliver, potentially shunting business to other sourcing nations such as India, Cambodia or Vietnam.
The BGMEA’s critics also expressed frustration that Kochi appears to have taken off, a signal, they say, that the garment industry is less of a priority to him. He’s currently overseas—one source suggested Singapore, while another said he was in Bangkok—seeking medical treatment for his son. While he’s gone, vice president Khandokar Rafiqul Islam is serving as acting president.
Islam, on behalf of the BGMEA, immediately denounced what he described as a “hostile takeover” during the “most vulnerable period of the country.” Writing in a statement that charged Samad and his Forum faction with causing further unrest at a time when peace and order were being counseled by authorities, Islam hit out at their “unlawful” behavior, which he said included thrown fists and the toppling of a security gate.
“Staff and board members who witnessed this violence are in a state of shock. Moreover, there are videos circulating on WhatsApp, which [have] aggrieved multiple general members of BGMEA,” he said. “We request the concerned bodies to initiate an immediate investigation and set an exemplary punishment for the perpetrators to restore law and order in the society.”
But Miran Ali, vice president of the BGMEA and managing director of the Bitopi Group and Tarasima Apparels, took a more conciliatory view of the proceedings.
“We had an amicable discussion, and we are hoping…we are certain of an amicable understanding,” he told Sourcing Journal. “And ultimately, all parties, regardless of which side they support, only want the benefit of the industry. So, we are all working together in this.”
Still, a shakeup of the BGMEA’s top ranks is perhaps inevitable, said Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana, an assistant professor of retailing at the University of South Carolina, noting that most Awami League leaders are either trying to leave the country or are in hiding. The hacked or charred bodies of nearly 30 Awami League executives and their family members have been found across Bangladesh since Monday, according to local media.
“There are high risks of potential retaliation from law enforcement, people from the opposition party or even from the general population,” Rana said. “There might be more changes in leadership in BGMEA. In particular, officials who have strong Awami League affiliations will leave or be made to leave.”
All institutions, regardless of scale and importance, could see significant changes in the coming months, if not weeks, said a Bangladeshi industry insider, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons. Many positions across the country were filled using the Awami League’s influence, sometimes by breaking the rules.
“We have a large presence of factory owners who belong to non-Awami League backgrounds [who have been] living with major grievances for…years,” the person said.
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