GUWAHATI, May 25 - This Eid is not festival time for them. Still, following the custom, they offered prayers to Allah on Monday morning seeking good times in the coming days.
�It is not possible to celebrate Eid on an empty stomach. It is really a tough time for us. Since the first day of lockdown we have been struggling against starvation,� said Khunta Banu, a resident of Beharbari area of the city.
The 60-year-old woman originally hails from Baghbar in Barpeta district. Her family shifted permanently to the southern outskirts of the city around five years ago after losing their land to river erosion.
�My son is a daily wage labourer who has remained jobless for a long time. It is not possible for him to arrange delicious foods and new clothes for members of the family to celebrate Eid in such a critical time,� she lamented.
Meanwhile, on the occasion of Eid, the Khalsa Centre North East on Monday distributed special food items among the residents of Beharbari area.
Budur Ali, an auto-van driver who came to collect the free food items, said, �Every Muslim wishes to celebrate Eid as per his capacity. But this time it is impossible for me. There are four members in my family and I have remained jobless for the last two months. In such a crisis period, how can I manage new clothes and delicious foods for my kids?�
Budur hails from Boko and has been living in the city for many years. He said that like him, many other auto-van drivers are also suffering the same pain.
Semim Begum, a mother of three children, stated that her children were crying at home because she did not buy them new clothes on the occasion of Eid.
�I don�t know how to explain the ongoing misery to them. Hope Allah will bring happiness to my family soon,� she said.
Azizur Rahman, a daily wage labourer and resident of the same locality (Beharbari), said that he failed to send money to his family at Mangaldoi as he has lost his job amid the lockdown.
�Maybe for the first time in their life, my parents could not celebrate Eid. I have no word to express the pain which I have been suffering as a son who failed to send money to his parents at the time of Eid,� Rahman rued.
