It has been mentioned in the very beginning of the article that exporters claimed that some international conspiracy was afoot. Whether it is true or false this excuse is common for any affected concerns to immediately put the blame on others upon seeing the extent of damage. What the truth is will take time to emerge but what our garment exporters claim might be an outburst of opinion while they were stunned to see the massive damages done to their facilities.

The RMG emerged in 1980 and reached this point solely because of the initiative of private entrepreneurs. And thus the sector was not properly planned. No land or zone was allocated to the prospective apparel entrepreneur. So the industry was largely located within the city's markets, clinics, residential houses or on top of cinema halls. These are not the ideal locations to develop the apparel industry but what choice did the entrepreneur have at that time. We should thank those entrepreneurs who came up with the thought to build up the industry at that time, as without those ventures this industry would not come this far. Over the last two decades these entrepreneurs have learned the concept of work place management, compliance factors and necessity of modern facilities and many new factories have been set up accordingly.

Mr. Nizam has blamed garment owners for having a "Zomindary attitude." This is a totally wrong impression or he may have mistaken with the atmosphere that used to prevail in tea gardens long time ago. The "Raza-Proza" relationship does not at all exist but can we complain when some one is respected by subordinates. Don't we learn in school to show respect to the seniors when we see them or pass by them but if any one depicts this as "Raza-Proza" or "Zomindary attitude" then it is wrong a interpretation of some ones respect for others. May be in the UK the social structure is different, and Mr. Nizam's comments are insulting to our social values.

Mr. Nizam also mentioned that garment owners ride expensive cars, live in posh homes, fight for social status of CIP. If anyone wants to have a luxurious life with their hard earned money or want to earn some social status then they should not be blamed.

If we read the history of the subcontinent then we find that traditionally the rich rode horses, owned expensive cars or became members of country clubs.

He also mentioned that garment exporters enjoy too many national and international laws in their favour at the expense of the workers. The fact is totally opposite. Our garment workers are protected by national and international laws with the support of the owners. The owners often face non-compliance charges if they do not follow specific guidelines that are laid down by the law. There are many owners being black listed for not complying with the law or requirements set by certain overseas clients.

However, the irony remains that if there is a law someone will break it. That is not only in Bangladesh. Even today we still read news that there are crackdowns on captive workers working in Los Angles down town or suburbs of Mexico. So do we blame or categorise all the industry owners for this kind of heinous business act. The law enforcing agencies of those developed countries stop those illegal practices to keep the image of the industry alive. The few factory owners of Bangladesh who put workers lives and safety at jeopardy should be brought to justice and all other factory owners will definitely support the action.

Yes, the working conditions in some factories are not healthy. But what choice do the owners have when they have no specific zone to set up the industry. Our exporters have realised that not only the quality of the product important but also the quality of facility is a key factor too. That is why we now see modern state of the art facilities coming up around Dhaka and Chittagong.

Now, going back to the street agitation and protest marches where there was a very small percentage of so called unhappy workers who joined the anarchy. The identity of the "Blue Helmet" wearing black tee shirt's mobs have already been detected. Moreover the torching of a razor blade factory and ceramic industries was preplanned. These incidents were based on a fabricated story that someone had been murdered inside the factory. Later TV coverage showed the looting of those industries. Needless to say these industries had no connection with apparel or textile sector. The newspaper issues of May 24 showed photos of weeping workers who broke down in tears upon hearing that their workplace was shut down. There are numerous interviews in the media where workers and owners claimed that the attackers were outsiders and not associated with the industry. Everyone in the industry firmly believes that those who set the factories on fire or carried out attack with pre-cut metal rods to vandalise different facilities are not part of the workforce who sit behind the sewing machines. 90% of the workers are female then why the 100% of the agitators were male? Mr. Nizam, can you answer this? Why was not a single female worker on the street protesting low wages on those days.

Coming back to low wages the garment owners are not to be blamed. Anyone would think that an increase in wages of garment workers will solve the problem but this will be a bigger national challenge for the country to cope with as demand to increase wages from other industries will immediately be ignited. So what we need right now is a national consensus to deal with this problem, and not the blaming of the factory owners, their behaviours or lifestyles.

Under the current compliance guidelines set by major North American retailers simple body search by the factory security is not allowed before workers exit the work place. This retailer does not approve of armed guards at the gate. So, any factory owner could ask for an armed guard in the factory for the protection of the property and lives of innocent hard working female workers, but not to force them to work at gun point. If an independent inquiry is set up it would find that numerous female workers were injured while working in a factory when they were attacked from outside during the incidents of May 22 and 23.

The distinguished buyers of the apparel industry follow strict procurement guidelines before buying apparels from Bangladesh. If the conditions of Bangladesh apparel sector are so poor then Mr. Nizam would not see the flood of apparels imported from Bangladesh in Debanhams, Top-man, C&A, H&M, Burtons and Marks & Spencer in the UK.

Refer to Mr. Nizam's article that every country faces three problems that it must resolve. What goods to produce? How will it produce? And who will produce? These questions had been answered a long time ago when the apparel industry emerged in the country. When the ideas to produce garments were initiated immediately the thought was in place to involve the female work forces that were not utilized at mass to contribute to the GDP.

Japan, Korea, Taiwan at the initial stages of industrial development were benefited by the apparel manufacturing industry. Bangladesh, as a developing country, is also right on track in utilising the female workforce in the RMG sector, which is the single largest sector to employ female workers.

So, let us find out what caused the unrest and who really participated in those agitations on May 22 and 23 and how we can stop these incidents from reoccurring without pointing finger to the entire business community.

The garments entrepreneurs believe that the strength of the industry is their worker force. These work forces should be served better.

Lastly I want to express my view about Mr. Nizams comment "...Rarely the rich in Bangladesh practice what Islam instructs." this made me to draw conclusion that Mr. Nizam has no idea about Bangladesh, its society and the wealthy community who are contributing to the development of economy that has improved the blue collar working conditions since 1971.

Durjoy Rahman Joy is the Managing Director of Winners Creations, an apparel sourcing agent.