Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Assistant Press Secretary KM Nazmul Haque has accused banned Awami League activists of attempting to use the ongoing garment workers’ protest as a means of making a political comeback.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Nazmul alleged that the workers’ protest had fallen into the hands of activists directly affiliated with the Awami League.

“Some Awami League activists are working on the ground to incite ordinary workers into violence, while the fugitive killer network is pulling the strings from behind the scenes,” he wrote.

“Any attempt to use the workers’ protest as a cover for political rehabilitation will not be allowed to succeed,” Khan said.

Garment workers clashed with police in Gazipur and Dhaka’s Mirpur-10 on Sunday while demanding a monthly minimum wage of 30,000 taka. Police fired tear gas and sound grenades to disperse protesters, who blocked roads and set fire to a police vehicle in Mirpur.

Amid the unrest, the government announced the formation of a six-member wage board to determine a new minimum wage for garment workers. The protests have continued for several days, disrupting factory operations and traffic in parts of Gazipur and Dhaka.