13 years after Tazreen fire, justice still eludes survivors
As the flames spread, 112 garment workers never made it out alive. More than fifty others survived, but survival became its own burden, leaving many with injuries that haunt their days and carve into their nights
Highlights:
- Thirteen years on, Tazreen survivors still await justice and compensation
- Court case stalled with only 16 of 104 witnesses heard
- Survivors suffer lasting injuries, poverty, and deep emotional trauma
- Key accused, including owner, repeatedly absent; several remain fugitives
- Investigations found locked gates and no emergency exits endangered workers
- Rights groups say justice system has failed victims and their families
Today marks thirteen years since the Tazreen Fashion factory in Ashulia turned into a furnace of death. On the evening of 24 November 2012, smoke and screams filled the building at Nishchintapur.
As the flames spread, 112 garment workers never made it out alive. More than fifty others survived, but survival became its own burden, leaving many with injuries that haunt their days and carve into their nights.
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Filed the day after the fire by Sub-Inspector Khairul Islam, the case has stalled: of 104 listed witnesses, only 16 have appeared. Hearings drag on, progress stalled, and the next testimony is set for 9 March—88 witnesses still unheard.
Victims neglected, justice undelivered
For the survivors, these thirteen years have brought little healing. Justice, compensation, and recognition remain undelivered.
"We are slowly dying, no one is here for us," Rehana Begum, who lost the use of her limbs while escaping the fire, told The Business Standard. "I have no words left for my suffering. I can't afford two meals a day. I sold my only piece of land for treatment. We don't want to die inch by inch. We just want to live."
Her voice breaks when she speaks of the other survivors: "If you saw their faces, you would understand. The real wounds are inside us."
Another survivor, Jarina Khatun, still lives with injuries that never healed. "When bodies get burned, no one can recognise them. I jumped from the building, not to survive, but so that my family would at least have my body. Sometimes I wish I had burned that day. Living like this is worse than dying"
"We want compensation while this government is still in office. If a case against Sheikh Hasina can reach a verdict within a year, then ours can too. If it doesn't, we will have no choice but to set ourselves on fire in front of Tazreen," she said.
A trial stuck between delay and denial
When asked, Additional Public Prosecutor JM Foridul Rahman described the fire as "a tragedy set in motion by human actions" that must be judged accordingly. He acknowledged the prolonged delays, noting that many witnesses avoid court because of the cost and time involved.
Defence lawyers, however, claim that the witnesses who do appear "don't know anything," calling the fire an unfortunate accident with "no evidence of instruction or intent." Advocate Shri Pran Nath, said, "The few witnesses who have appeared cannot properly identify the accused, and many have already forgotten details of the incident."
One key accused, owner Delwar Hossain, has not appeared in court for two consecutive hearings. Lawyers claim he is "sick," though no documents have been submitted. Workers' rights groups believe he has fled the country.
A fire that never ended
The scale of the tragedy remains staggering. That night, 984 workers were inside the factory. 120 workers died, of whom only 58 could be identified and returned to their families. The remaining 53, burned beyond recognition, were buried without names in Jurain cemetery.
A year after the fire, the CID filed charges against thirteen individuals, including owner Delwar Hossain and senior managers, accusing them of culpable homicide and negligence. The other accused include chairman Mahmuda Akter, Md Shamim Mia, store in-charge (thread) Al Amin, security in-charge Anisur Rahman, security supervisor Al Amin, store in-charge Hamidul Islam Lawlu, admin officer Dulal Uddin, engineer M Mahbubul Morshed, security guard Rana, also known as Anwarul, factory manager Abdur Razzak, production manager Mobarak Hossain Manjur, and Shahiduzzaman Dulal.
Al Amin, Rana, Shamim, and Mobarak Hossain remain fugitives, while the rest are out on bail.
Investigations confirmed the building had no emergency exits, its design was dangerously flawed, and security guards reportedly locked the collapsible gates after assuring workers the fire was merely a drill. Trapped between smoke and locked doors, many had no choice but to jump.
Workers' rights leaders attending hearings say the justice system has failed both the dead and the living. "Everyone in the world knows workers were locked inside and left to burn," said Shahidul Islam Sobuj of the Garments Shramik Oikya Forum. "Yet we delay, ignore, and forget."
Thirteen years later, the smoke has cleared from the factory, but not from survivors' lives. For them, the Tazreen fire never ended — it is still burning inside their bodies, in the courts, and across a country that has not yet answered their cries.
