At 9.10 am, on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, an eight-storied building, Rana Plaza, collapsed in Savar, an area near the capital city Dhaka, Bangladesh. About 2,500 people were rescued alive while more than 500 dead bodies were recovered in 10 days. Eye witnesses are saying that there are still a large number of bodies in the collapsed building. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى grant peace of Jannah to all the Muslim men and women who died in the collapse and grant recovery to those who are injured.
The media immediately pointed finger to the owner of the building, Sohel Rana and convincingly proved that he is an active member of an associate body of the ruling Awami League. But capitalism is such a system where no one takes any responsibility, starting from the Prime Minister to the lowest cadre of the administration. In her initial reaction, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was desperate to deny Rana’s involvement with her party. She did the same after 10 days in an interview with CNN. The Home Minister went a step further and tried to put the responsibility on the opposition party. In an interview with BBC radio, he said that the building may have collapsed due to the shaking of the building’s gate by the BNP men as they were enforcing a strike on that day. BNP, on the other hand accused inefficient use of the army in the rescue operation.
Workers were injured when dangerous cracks appeared in the building on April 23, the day before the collapse. Upon hearing the news, administrative head of the locality, UNO (Upazilla Nirbahi Officer) and industrial police visited the building. But they failed to declare the building ‘abandoned’, apparently due to pressure from the building owner. The news of the crack was also carried out in a local satellite channel. It was reported that five garment factories were operating in the building at the time of the collapse. They coerced their employees and laborers to work on the next day.
Few media outlets, politicians and opinion makers are placing all the blame on the owner of the building and the factory owners for the disaster. It is rather failure of the total system, which is corrupt to the core, to prevent such tragedy. Sohel Rana grabbed the land illegally from a non-Muslim. With money and political influence, he managed the legal-judicial system to hold onto the land. Similarly, with blessings from political parties, all concerned government offices were managed when the building was constructed – starting from the local municipal offices, inspector of factories to Rajuk (Capital city development authority) responsible for giving approval and supervision of all construction. No one was there to stop the construction of the building, built over five years on a water body with an inadequate foundation, faulty design, and inadequate materials etc. More than a dozen NOCs (no objection certificates) were obtained from various government agencies to run the garment factories. This is a story of corruption, corrupt Awami-BNP politics and system from the start till the end. There are thousands of Rana’s in this country with thousands of buildings and other businesses benefitting the corrupt politicians and being benefitted.
The building collapse reminds the Ummah what Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in the Qur’an,
ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُمْ بَعْضَ الَّذِي عَمِلُوا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ
“Corruption has appeared in both land and sea because of what people’s own hands have brought about so that they may taste something of what they have done so that hopefully they will turn back.”
(Ar-Rum, 30:41)
The Ummah have accepted such rulers over their head who will never take their responsibility. But if the Ummah adopts the system given by Allah سبحانه وتعالى, rulers are bound to take the responsibility of the Ummah. Our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said,
“كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ الْإِمَامُ رَاعٍ وَمَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ…”
“Everyone of you is a guardian and everyone of you is responsible (for his wards). A ruler is a guardian and is responsible (for his subjects)…”
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also said,
“مَنْ وَلِيَ مِنْ أَمْرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ شَيْئًا، فَاحْتَجَبَ عَنْ ضَعَفَةِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، احْتَجَبَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ”
“If Allah invests to someone the affairs of the Muslims and he (i.e., the ruler) ignores their rights, denies their access to him and neglects their needs, Allah will not answer his prayer or realize his hopes and will act towards him with indifference on the Day of Resurrection.”
So, it is our responsibility to give full effort for implementation of the Khilafah, the ruling system given by Allah سبحانه وتعالى. The Khaleefah will implement Islam in comprehensive manner and relieve the sufferings of Ummah from the current corruption and oppression.
Muhammad Raiyan Hassan
Wilayah of Bangladesh