Dear সবাইরে-কইয়া-দিমু টেলেভিশন্,
I saw your report on me and my ‘crimes’ on TV the other night and that was when I finally realized the gross misconceptions the general populace seems to have about the events that occurred a year ago. When I was in jail I never got a chance to put the record straight and I think it’s about time people heard my version of events and the circumstances that led up to them.
Firstly, I never knew about the crack that appeared the week before the devastating tragedy. I would have known if my manager had but informed me about it. He was under the false impression that I would interpret reports of problems as incompetence on his part. As a result he decided to keep me in the dark and ended up not taking appropriate measures. All he did was get an architect to check it up for him but he never conveyed the results of it to me. He’d said it was a routine check up and that the results showed that everything was fine as usual.
Secondly, I have been accused of consciously building a structurally unsound factory. Again I must protest that this was the architect’s fault. He, like the manager, thought that if he told me that the factory plans he himself had designed had fundamental flaws in them; it would show his incompetence. He was right in thinking that as chances are I would have fired an architect who can’t even draft plans correctly. So in the end he too kept me in the dark and arranged for the factory to be built.
Now as to why the architect made faulty designs in the first place, I have no idea. Maybe he thought that cutting corners would speed up the building of the factory and thus enable him to move to another job more quickly. Or perhaps it was all just pure incompetence and he really had no idea that the plans were fraught with mistakes. I don’t know, I was kept in the dark about it all.
About building the factory on a pool that I had reportedly ‘stolen’ from a Hindu, I thought that it would be safe. Moreover I was assured that it would be safe by none other than that aforementioned architect. It isn't to my best interests to build a factory that may fall down at any moment, taking all the capital I put into it with it. As for the latter part of the accusation, it’s all a lie. Just an attempt to vilify me further. I bought it from him in a completely fair way, without a whiff of underhandedness anywhere in the exchange.
Thirdly, I am said to have forced my workers to go in on that fateful day, to have paid them meagre wages and to have made them labour under terrible conditions. Though none of these claims contributed in any way to the destruction of the factory I will still answer them, if just to clear my name of all charges.
As I mentioned, I knew nothing of the matter. If there was any forcing done it was on my manager’s part and without my consent. He ran the factory, he did all the normal duties. He was just supposed to report odd occurrences to me and he failed to even do that.
I paid them low wages as I barely turned a profit myself. I couldn't afford to pay them any more. I tried my very best but it wasn't enough. To raise the wages I’d have to lay off staff and that would be even worse for them. However, I did keep the option of working over time open so that I could give them the money they sorely needed. I didn't force them to do it, they did it voluntarily.
As for the working conditions, I would have improved them but to do so I’d have to cut down on costs to raise the money for renovation. That would mean lowering wages and laying off staff and that would be worse than working under poor conditions. I kept the needs of the workers as my highest priority, always.
I also regret running away after the incident. My action was misconstrued as evidence of my ‘obvious’ guilt. I am, however, not guilty and it was in a moment of weakness and panic that I ran. I must apologize to all the people who were confused by this and especially to my lawyers who had to clear this matter up in court.
Finally I’d like to offer my condolences to all the people who lost family members, friends and acquaintances to the tragedy. I am very sorry for your loss and if I can help in any way, please let me know.
