Bede children pass Eid without festivities

Eid brings boundless joy and happiness to children. But the festivities elude children of Bede (gypsy) communities, enveloping their lives with sadness.
A visit to a Bede community residing in Kharia village under Munshiganj's Lawhajang upazila on Eid day revealed children playing barefoot, donning tattered clothes. The cheeriness or enthusiasm in the world around them failed to reflect on their faces.
Wearing a new dress, having appetising food or visiting entertainment venues on this day is a luxury for these children. Their financially-insolvent parents can barely make ends meet.
A person of the Bede community can earn around Tk 80 to Tk 100 every day by putting up shows as snake charmers and selling cosmetics and oil, which they claim acts as painkillers.
“With these earnings, we can not properly care for our children,” said Mahbubur Rahman, father of three children, all below the age of 10.
“My father neither gave me a new dress last Eid nor this time,” said an 8-year-old Zunayed Ahmed. He points to his clothes, “This one was bought around two years ago.” Around a dozen of his friends echoed nearly the same.
“It is a very hard life for us,” says a mother feeding her 5-year-old girl rice and mashed potatoes inside a shanty. “How can we provide delicious food for our children,” added Zahura Begum.
Like other marginalised groups in Bangladesh, Bede children are deprived of basic rights like education, healthcare and sanitation.
There are around 4 lakh Bede children, around half of the community's population, claimed the community leaders.