Hijra community donates savings to traders

In a gesture of kindness, a group of around 100 members of the hijra community visited the site of Bangabazar Shopping Complex yesterday to hand over Tk 20 lakh to the affected traders. The community raised the funds from members across the country, saving money from their Eid expenses.

Kashmiri Dipali Hijra, president of Bangladesh Hijra Development Organization, said that they have been collecting money from Bangabazar traders for the past 40 to 45 years and are happy to have stood beside them in their time of crisis.

Another hijra leader, Bakul Haji, said that they are not buying any new clothes for Eid to show their solidarity with the traders.

She also said that they would have collected money from the traders this year too if the fire had not ravaged the markets.

 Hijra leader Aleya from Uttara also handed over Tk 2 lakh separately as a donation to the traders early yesterday morning. Aleya said she had saved the money to perform hajj, but gave it to the traders so that they could bounce back.

"It was heartbreaking to see this market being burnt down. Once we used to collect Tk 10 to 20 from these traders in the markets. Today, they have lost everything. So, this is my little contribution," Aleya said.

"I want them to survive," she added.

The traders, who have approximately lost more than Tk 1,000 crore worth of investment in the fire, thanked the community for its generous contribution.

There were around 2,500 shops in the market, one of the most popular clothing hub in the capital for retailers and wholesalers. The shop owners had invested heavily to profit from the biggest shopping spree ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.