THE delay in the delivery of justice for Tazreen Fashions fire victims is a stark failure that is unacceptable. The fire, which tore through the factory on Dhaka鈥檚 outskirts of Ashulia on November 24, 2012, left at least 117 people dead and more than 200 wounded. The victims are yet to get justice and the charred, abandoned building still stands as a reminder of a glaring failure. Thirteen years on, families of the deceased, burn survivors and labour groups continue to assemble before this decaying structure, renewing the same demands for full compensation, rehabilitation and accountability that were first made in the immediate aftermath. The poor progress in the trial has only deepened the disappointment. The court posted 68 dates for deposition, but the prosecution could produce witnesses on a small number of occasions. Only 14 of the 104 witnesses have so far been heard. The major accused, including the owner, have repeatedly failed to appear, further eroding confidence in the process. What should have been a landmark case for worker rights has, instead, become a study in state inaction, bureaucratic stalling and the quiet abandonment of the most affected.
The continued stagnation of the Tazreen trial brings to the fore a deep institutional malaise in which justice for industrial workers is treated as negotiable rather than essential. The delay is not merely a procedural lapse. It also reflects a system shaped by political patronage, weak regulatory oversight and a broad reluctance to confront the entrenched interests that underpin the industrial economy. When a case involving more than a hundred preventable deaths can drag for more than a decade, with witnesses remaining regularly absent, accused repeatedly excused and structural reforms still largely rhetorical, it impresses on the employers that legal consequences are neither swift nor certain. This impunity has been replicated across other fatal incidents, from the Hashem Foods factory fire of 2021 to the recurring collapses and industrial fires that expose the same pattern: unsafe buildings, locked exits, non-existent fire separation and the continued operation of factories that violate even the most basic safety codes. The persistence of such issues shows how global fast-fashion supply chains incentivise cost-cutting while externalising risk onto workers. In such an environment, the slow collapse of accountability becomes normalised and each fresh disaster becomes less of an aberration than an expected consequence of structural neglect.
The government should treat industrial safety and worker rights as non-negotiable obligations rather than episodic responses. A swift disposal of the Tazreen case, the enforcement of building and fire regulations, independent inspection and a transparent compensation framework are essential. Without firm will, oversight and consequences, such disasters could continue to happen.