Interim Report - Report No 15, 1955

A. A. The complainants' allegations

1. 231. The Burma Trade Union Congress presented its complaint by transmitting to the I.L.O on 12 August 1954 a copy of a communication it had addressed to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on 4 August 1954 and a copy of a resolution of protest adopted by a conference of trade union representatives for the Rangoon-Insein districts on 1 August 1954, which had accompanied the communication. The complainant makes the following allegations:
   • (a) The workers at the Narayanganj jute mills staged a strike against their employers, who had refused to accede to their wage demands last May, but in spite of the fact that the workers had the right to strike against their employer, the Pakistani authorities, after creating riots among the workers, ordered the army and the police to shoot down the workers, 600 of whom were killed.
   • (b) Soon after the conclusion of the United States-Pakistan mutual defence pact, the Pakistani authorities proceeded to suppress elementary trade union rights and democratic liberties ; trade union organisations were disbanded and hundreds of trade union leaders and democrats were unjustly and arbitrarily put in jail.
2. 232. In a telegram dated 10 September 1954 and addressed to the I.L.O, the Trade Union International of Workers in the Textile and Clothing Industries (Warsaw) protested against the arrest of Mirza Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzal [Afghal], Mohammed Ghayoor and other trade union leaders, against the massacre and imprisonment of workers and against the suppression of trade union rights and democratic liberties in Pakistan, and requested the I.L.O to intervene and seek the release of imprisoned trade union leaders and workers, the punishment of those responsible for the Narayanganj killings and the restoration of trade union rights in Pakistan. In a further communication dated 12 November 1954, this complainant gave the following additional information:
   • (a) During the month of June 1954, Pakistani trade unions were dissolved by the Government of East Pakistan at the same time that martial law was instituted in the country. The repression of the workers' movement was particularly sanguinary in the town of Narayanganj, where troops opened fire on jute workers, killing hundreds of them.
   • (b) Mohammed Ghayoor, who was arrested on 7 July 1954, is the General Secretary of the Karachi Textile Workers' Federation ; Mirza Mohammed Ibrahim and Mohammed Afzal, who were arrested on 24 July 1954, are respectively the President and Secretary-General of the Pakistani Federation of Trade Unions. A number of other trade union leaders and workers were imprisoned during the same period. Active trade union organisations have been placed outside the pale of the law.
     • ANALYSIS OF THE REPLY
   • 233. The Government has sent a reply dated 6 November 1954 which refers to the complaint of the Burma Trade Union Congress and to the telegram of the Trade Union International of Workers in the Textile and Clothing Industries, dated 10 September 1954. In this reply, the Government makes the following observations:
   • (a) The allegation that the Pakistani authorities, after creating riots among the workers, ordered the army and the police to shoot down the workers at the Narayanganj jute mills is a gross mis-statement based on wrong and misleading information. The riots at the jute mills were in fact a fight between two parties of the workers themselves and the Government did not resort to any firing during the riots. Before the situation could be brought under control, the two parties had inflicted heavy casualties on each other. The situation could not be controlled before the riots resulted in many casualties because:
3. (1) the trouble flared up suddenly and gave the Government little time to nip it in the bud ;
4. (2) the riots were not confined to a small area but took place in widely dispersed spots ; and
5. (3) the Government had to face transport difficulties due to the fact that East Bengal is a riverine country.
   • (b) Mirza Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzal and Mohammed Ghayoor were arrested for subversive activities and not because of genuine trade union activities. Legitimate trade union activities are not being suppressed in Pakistan and the allegation that the Government of Pakistan took repressive measures against legitimate trade union organisations is false. The Government is anxious to promote healthy trade union activities so that labour problems can be solved with the co-operation of labour, but where agitators take inspiration from foreign countries and exploit labour grievances to strike at the roots of peace and progress, action has to be taken against them.

B. B. The Committee's conclusions

1. 234. The Committee notes that there are two main allegations in this case, the first relating to the riots and killing of workers at the Narayanganj jute mills and the second to the disbandment or forced dissolution of trade unions and the arrest of trade union leaders and workers.
   • Allegation concerning the Riots and Killing of Workers at the Narayanganj Jute Mills
2. 235. The allegation is that the Pakistani authorities, after creating riots among the workers at the Narayanganj jute mills, who had gone on strike, ordered the army and the police to fire on the workers. The Government states that this allegation is based on misleading information, the real facts being that the riots were actually a fight between two factions of the workers themselves, that they inflicted heavy casualties upon each other before the situation could be brought under control, and that there had not been any resort to firing during the riots. The Government explains its inability to control the situation before the fighting resulted in many casualties by pointing to the fact that the riots flared up suddenly over widely dispersed spots and to the fact that the Government had to face transportation difficulties due to the riverine character of East Bengal.
3. 236. In view of the imprecise nature of the information furnished both in the complaint and in the Government's reply and of the different points of view expressed as to the origin of the riots, the Committee, while recognising that it is impossible, on the basis of the information before it, to determine accurately whether the exercise of trade union rights has actually been violated, nevertheless considers that it should emphasise, as it has done in various earlier cases, that the institution, by the action of the government concerned, of an independent inquiry is a particularly appropriate method of ascertaining the facts and attributing responsibility when disturbances of such importance have occurred and involved loss of human life.
   • Allegation concerning the Disbanding or Dissolution of Trade Unions and the Arrest of Trade Union Leaders and Workers
4. 237. The allegation is that, soon after the conclusion of the United States-Pakistan defence pact, the Government started to suppress trade union rights and democratic liberties in Pakistan, particularly through the disbandment or dissolution of trade unions and the arrest of trade union leaders and workers, including Mirza Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzal and Mohammed Ghayoor. The Government denies that legitimate trade union activities are being suppressed in Pakistan or that it has taken repressive measures against legitimate trade union organisations. The Government admits that Mirza Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzal and Mohammed Ghayoor were arrested, but for subversive activities and not for genuine trade union activities.
5. 238. The Committee considers that the part of this allegation which relates the acts complained of to the United States-Pakistan defence pact is so obviously political in character as not to require any consideration. With respect to the part of the allegation relating to the arrest of unspecified trade union leaders and workers and to the dissolution of trade unions, without specific evidence having been given of any trade union which was forced to disband or dissolve as a result of governmental action, the Committee, recalling the rule it has followed in previous cases where similar, unsupported allegations have been made, concludes that this part of the allegation does not call for an examination on its merits.
6. 239. The remaining part of this allegation relates to the arrest of Mirza Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzal and Mohammed Ghayoor, also referred to by the Trade Union International of Workers in the Textile and Clothing Industries in its telegram dated 10 September 1954. This complainant has given additional information concerning the dates of their arrests and their trade union positions in its letter dated 12 November 1954, which was communicated to the Government by a letter dated 3 December 1954, to which the Government has not so far replied.
7. 240. In this connection, the Committee has noted that, on the basis of the above-mentioned telegram, the Government has made some observations concerning the arrests of these trade union leaders. It has, however, limited itself to the statement that Mirza Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzal and Mohammed Ghayoor were arrested not for genuine trade union activities but for subversive activities.
8. 241. In a number of previous cases where the complainants alleged that trade union leaders or workers had been arrested for trade union activities, and the Government's replies amounted to a general denial of the allegation or were simply to the effect that the arrests were made for subversive activities, for reasons of internal security or for common law crimes, the Committee has followed the rule that the governments concerned should be requested to submit further and as precise information as possible concerning the arrests, particularly in connection with the legal or judicial proceedings instituted as a result thereof and the result of such proceedings, in order to be able to make a proper examination of the allegation. The Committee therefore considers that the Government should be requested to submit similar information regarding the arrest of the above-named trade union leaders.
9. 242. Accordingly, the Committee has postponed its consideration of this part of the allegation pending the receipt of further information from the Government.