The recent terrorist attack on Dhaka’s Holey Artisan Bakery, which claimed 28 lives including 20 hostages, figured some names who were directly or indirectly related to the country’s flourishing readymade garment (RMG) sector, amongst which are Ishrat Akhond (45), Human Resources (HR) Director of one of Bangladesh’s largest garments manufacturing company — ZXY International FZCO, and 52-year-old Nadia Benedetti from Italy, who was the Managing Director of Studiotex Ltd., whom Apparel Resources incidentally interviewed and featured in the September, 2014 issue of Apparel Online Bangladesh magazine.
Out on dinner with two Italian designers, Benedetti was one amongst the nine Italians slaughtered by the terrorists on the fateful night of July 1, during a siege that continued for long 12 hours before commandos entered the bakery to take control. Accompanied by her father, Benedetti reportedly came to Bangladesh at a young age and made it her home, to carry forward the business.
Ishrat Akhond (a Bangladeshi national), fondly called “Nila” by her family and friends, besides being the Human Resources Director of ZXY International FZCO, was also a member of the Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce (a bilateral business organisation promoting trade between the two countries), reportedly went on to become a member of its election committee, thanks to her business acumen and exploits.
The father of Indian student Tarishi Jain (slain in the attack), Sanjeev Jain, is also reportedly involved in the garment business, apart from the expatriate Italians killed, most of whom were engaged in the Bangladesh garment industry at various capacities.
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The attack, no doubt comes as a major challenge and setback for the garment industry of the country, which irrespective of the earlier setbacks that it suffered, bounced back with courage and grit. “Bangladesh has never seen such a horrific incident… It is a strong slap to our image. It will put pressure on our business, but we cannot say to what extent at the moment,” reportedly maintained the President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Md. Siddiqur Rahman.
Apparel Resources, while conveying its deepest condolences to the family members of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack, expresses solidarity with Bangladesh in this moment of grief and hopes the country will spring back once again and so will the garment industry, to give a befitting reply to terrorism and the terrorists.
