Holy month of Ramadan came at the juncture of corona. The month of mercy, forgiveness and salvation is coming to an end. The holy Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated across the country on Monday (May 25).
Some people have done Eid shopping due to fear of corona, restrictions and conditions. People have also travelled to different areas in defiance of the ban. But the poor people of the Meghna coast could not shop. They could not think that Eid has arrived! You need to buy new clothes for yourself or your family members. Their only concern is to fishing in the river and sale, buy food. Because for them providing food to their stomachs is a greater joy than Eid. But as not they are getting enough Hilsa in the river; their sky is cloudy and faded even on Eid.
For two months in March-April, the government banned fishing of all species in the Meghna river area up to 100 km from Char Alexander in Laxmipur to Shatnal in Chandpur. About 95 percent of the fishermen did not enter the river following the government's ban. The rest of the fishermen secretly went down to the river and caught fish. Many of them have been caught by the administration and fined, and many have been imprisoned.
As fishing was stopped during the ban, the government has given 40 kg of rice to about 24,000 fishermen in Laxmipur. However, according to official account there are about 52,000 fishermen in the district. However, according to various non-governmental organizations, about 62,000 fishermen make a living by fishing in the Meghna river. But less than half of the fishermen get government benefits during the ban. In this, he has to go to the river at risk with the thought of paying the family expenses, dues and debts and face jail penalty. They also have to lose nets and boats worth lakhs of rupees.
The use of current nets in the river for the conservation of various species of fish including Hilsa is officially banned. However, the fishermen are not stopping the use. In various operations of the administration, Behundi and current nets were seized and burnt. But the fishermen bought the nets with interest money from borrowers and creditors. If it is burnt, the whole damage is to the jail. Neither the administration nor the conscious community thinks about it.
The fishermen claim that they buy because they get current nets in the market. If it had stopped production, they wouldn’t have been able to buy it either. No one is punishing the producer. Only the poor fishermen are punished. They live on hand to mouth. If there is no fish in the net, there is no food.
Eid-ul-Fitr has come. But the Eid did not come in the fishing villages. It has come for the wealthy of society; Or for those living far from the coast. The main Eid of fishing village is to be able to eat on full stomach. Just to give the chicken piece to the children. But this is very difficult for them. They landed in the river on the first day of May, two months after March-April ban. After two months, they went to the river with joy and festivities, but the desired Hilsa was not avialable. Although it is possible to provide some kind of boat oil and fishermen's hands, they are struggling to buy rice, pulses, oil and salt. Where to buy Eid clothes for children there?
During the corona period, the government, political leaders and many individuals personally distributed a lot of relief goods. Fishermen families are more deprived than that. The situation is similar in the entire coast of the district including Maju Chowdhury Hat, Hajimara, Ludhua, Motirhat, Battirkhal, Alexander.
Fishermen Osman Gani, Mohammad Hossain and Anwar Hossain, a fisherman from Battirkhal area of Kamalnagar upazila, said that all the fish they got all day are paid off. The cost of the family goes somehow. None of them received government food aid during the embargo. But they had fishermen cards. There are many such fishermen who work hard with their wives and children.
In fact, even if there is no cloud, the sky is dark for the fishermen until the Hilsa is found in the Meghna. The light of the sun cannot escape that darkness even with maximum effort. Only by the will of Allah their sky will become lightened. However, the fishermen's skies are cloudy during the Eid-ul-Fitr of corona and cyclone Amphan. Relief from the administration, politicians, private enterprises, nothing reaches them. If those had reached, there would have seen the light moving in the fishing village!