People from all walks of life are showing empathy to the Bangabazar traders by donating money as they lost everything in an inferno at Bangabazar Market.
People of the third gender community have given Tk 22 lakh as a donation to help the affected traders instead of Eid-ul-Fitr shopping. This is the first time that a third-gender community is doing such.
On the other hand, The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) pledged to donate Tk one crore and people from Cumilla donated a total of Tk 26 lakh.
FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin made the pledge on Sunday after visiting the fire gutted Bangabazar market in Dhaka.
“The vice president of our organisation visited here before me. This incident is very unfortunate for the traders. They expect most of their sale during the month of Ramadan.” Jashim Uddin said.
“This market needs a permanent solution. For this, I call on the shop owner association to make an arrangement for it. FBCCI will stand by them if necessary,” he added saying that “I will call upon all businessmen to stand by them. If the businessmen stand beside them, the people will come forward.”
Third gender community donated Tk22 lakh
Around a hundred members of the third gender community from Dhaka and the surrounding areas, along with their team leaders known as guru maa, participated in the handover ceremony held in the capital’s Bangabazar area – the scene of the devastating fire.
Bangladesh Hijra Development Organisation President Kashmiri Dipali said, “For the last 30 to 40 years we have been accepting money from the traders. Today, in their moment of need, we have stood by the businessmen brothers instead of doing Eid shopping.
“We have collected Tk 20 lakh from all over the country. I have come to donate the money to them. If they live, we live too.”
One of the guru maa Rakhi Sheikh said, “We collected money from people and accumulated this money. Now we will give it to humanity. All of this money will be deposited in the relief fund for the affected traders. From there, this money will reach the affected traders.”
Meanwhile, Aleya, a Hijra leader from the capital's Uttara area, has donated Tk 2 lakh to the businesses affected by the devastating fire.
Aleya said he lives in the Uttara area of the capital. She was saving money for performing Hajj. From that accumulated money, she gave Tk 2 lakhs as a donation to traders of Bangabazar. Seeing the plight of the affected traders, she donated the money instead of going to Hajj.
“I am very sad to see this market burn. At one time we also took help of Tk 10 to Tk 20 from these traders. But today those traders have lost everything. So, I contributed this little from my personal funds,” she added.
Bangladesh Shop Owners Association President Md Helal Uddin said, “Today the most pleasing thing is that people of the third gender have donated Tk 22 lakh. It is the best example of humanity. For this reason, we would request traders not to neglect them anymore. From now on we should treat this community with respect.”
People of Cumilla donated Tk 26 lakh
Cumilla MP AKM Bahauddin Bahar said that they handed over a donation check of Tk10 lakh from his own fund.
However, Cumilla District Shop Owners Association donated Tk 10 lakh, Tk 5 lakh was handed over from Comilla City Corporation's fund, and City Corporation Mayor Irfanul Haque Rifat gave Tk1 lakh from his own fund.
“I think, if the parliamentarians of the 300 constituencies of the country take initiatives like this, the pressure on the government will decrease,” Bahauddin Bahar said.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection AHM Shafiquzzaman handed over their one day's salary and iftar budget equivalent to around Tk 2 lakh to the victims at around 12pm on Sunday.
Bangabazar Shop Owners Association General Secretary Jahirul Islam said, “We have compiled a list of 2,961 affected traders. We submitted it to the mayor's office of the Dhaka South City Corporation. Only those who used to do business here are on the list.”
“Money collection has started from today. We have received about Tk 1.5 crore so far. The money will be distributed as per the decision of the mayor after discussion,” he said.
The devastating fire broke out at Bangabazar Complex around 6 am on April 4, and quickly spread to the nearby other markets. It took the Fire Service around 75 hours to douse the flames completely.
The shopkeepers claimed that around 5000 traders lost everything in the blaze and the financial total loss would be more than Tk 1,000 crore.
