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Originally Posted by Zunaid
This puts more credibility to the government claims of possible arson. Until this, I was thinking this was the usual blame 'external forces' for one's own shortcomings. Well this might still be true. Of course, one must realize that both the major parties are filled with MPs who made their money in the garments industry and the parties sow rich benefits from the owners. I do not expect much to happen - we will find a scapegoat and all 'will be well'. The real issue of worker rights and safety will again be brushed under the cuttings.
plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.
The only way things will change if this affects the bottom line. Recall the owner of this factory saying that the factory "will not have any material impact on the financial performance". That was the first concern and not the over hundreds of lives lost. And let's face it - pressure from the buyers will not have much of an impact - the Walmarts et all will make token noises but in the end - bottom line is king. They would rather pay next to nothing for the shirts they then mark up for a huge profit. And the Western consumers too will have negligible impact - yes, many do rail about child labor and all and the positive impact has been seen in the garments industry (the factory funded schools for the young) but most still 'vote' with their wallets. A company whose clothes are more expensive because they source from the better factories will go out of business. Shame.
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This ties into what I was saying in a thread not long ago about how Bangladeshis (and other browns - Indians, Pakistanis, Filippinos, etc) are treated like slaves in the UAE/Gulf. Cue the not-so-covert racism towards Arabs for being racist towards us! The US and Europe would never do such a thing (but to be fair, the UAE would also never invade the Czech Republic to plunder their **** stars and force the regime to be more Islamocratic) so we shouted rabidly in that thread. No, just the US and European consumers who shop at Walmart and TJ Maxx and thereby directly facilitate and even encourage the "safety" standards that led to this fire. Al Furqaan is just as guilty as the rest of you...I'd only shop at the cheapest vendors just like everyone else, but maybe I can sleep at night because I understand both the futility of championing the rights of the downtrodden and the fact that I'm just as blameworthy.
Looks like now Bangladeshis treat Bangladeshis like slaves. Couple that with bizarre order from the honorable PM to international aid groups to cease assisting Rohingya refugees, conveniently forgetting that she and 10 million of her compatriots ducked and ran across the border as refugees when the Paksters came a root-toot-shootin'.
Morale of the story: never underestimate our pathologic need to be hypocrites.