They then started breaking them and this breaking continued for 16 hours in two shifts.

But innumerable fears like polluted smoke emitting from cutting metals, injurious to health gases, chemicals, asbestos, lead, mercury etc are also awaiting them.

Then they also used to face deaths due to bombardment, fire or falling of metals and who escaped death were caught in critical diseases like cancer etc.

Likewise when majority of members used to reach village after working 4-5 years, they were like “Young Old”, so much exhausted that they are not able to do any work.

At last, 7 years back a lawyer of Chitagong, 41 years Syeda Rizwana stood for the rights of these helpless workers.

She emphasized on the ship breaking companies and the government that the environment for the ship-breaking workers should be made clean and safe.

Since before, labor laws were not implemented on the sea ports. Rizwana wanted the implementation of labor laws on the seaports as well.

Every year 150 ships are broken in Bangladesh.

Certainly this work creates job opportunities but Rizwana had the reason against it, “What is the use of employment that makes a person cancer patient, unemployment is better than this kind of job.”

In 2003, Rizwana filed a petition in the Supreme Court that all the foreign companies that send their ships to Bangladesh, they must be restricted cleaning the ships from every kind of chemical matters, dangerous metals and gases before sending them to Bangladesh.

Supreme Court accepting the reasoning of Rizwana ordered the government to take every possible step for the safety of workers and environment at seaports.

Syeda Rizwana had alone taken tussle with ship breakage companies and that’s why these companies became her rivals.

Now she does not go to seaports because she has a danger to her life. But by her efforts workers have got much relief and fears associated with their lives have reduced to much extent.

Rizwana says, “I never want that foreigners think Bangladesh a dustbin. This thing is against my nation and my country’s integrity.”

By Muhammad Irfan Zafar

Content Writer