KOLKATA: Habibullah Mondal (32), a resident of Karimpur in Nadia district of West Bengal, had promised his 28-year-old wife Razia of sacrificing a goat this Eid Al-Adha on Wednesday, a rarity for many poor Muslims who can't afford the sacrificial animal. He had saved up money for the goat. However, the sole breadwinner of the family of seven is stuck in Wayanad district of Kerala and the family has not been able to contact Habibullah for the past one week, leaving their Eid being not only colourless but in fact gloomy.
"How can we celebrate Eid when our son is not home?," said Habibullah's nonagenarian father Ikramullah Mondal. With their sons stuck in the Kerala deluge, thousands of Bengali Muslims like Ikramullah and Razia across migration-heavy districts of Nadia, Murshidabad, Malda, Paschim Medinipur and South 24 Parganas abstained from celebrating Eid Al-Adha on Wednesday.
According to Kerala-based migrant rights activists, some one lakh of 5-8 lakh Bengali migrant workers in Kerala are severely hit by floods. Some of them have contacted their families back home through video calls and phone calls but there is no trace of many of the labourers raising anxiety of their well-being back home. But those getting news of their loved ones are not very elated either.
"I have spoken with my husband a few times over the phone. He is not getting enough food or water. How can I eat good food here? I am only praying to Allah for his early return," said Tamima Biswas of Nowda in Murshidabad whose husband Azad Biswas is stuck in Thrissur district of Kerala.
Even if none of their relatives are stuck in Kerala, some Bengali Muslim families have joined in with the tensed families whose men are stuck in the deluge and have toned down their Eid celebrations in solidarity with them. "They are our sons too. In this time of grief, we should not celebrate when some families are having sleepless nights thinking about their men back in Kerala. We are praying for their well-being and contacting the government officials and our elected representatives for safe return of our sons," Maulana Qasim Akhtar of Panskura in Purba Medinipur district said.
Meanwhile, two special trains from Kerala consisting around 2,500 Bengali migrants in each reached Santragachi railway station on Wednesday. Some 150 students from various colleges and universities received the migrant labourers and provided them with food, water and necessary assistance for their onward journey to their respective homes.