Lalmonirhat: While Eid-ul-Azha is traditionally marked by sacrifice, feasting and family celebrations, for thousands of people living in the riverine chars of northern Bangladesh, this year’s festival arrived with little more than anxiety, hardship, and uncertainty. Across the scattered islands formed by the Teesta, Dharla, Brahmaputra, and Dudhkumar rivers, the usual sounds of Eid celebration were largely absent. In many char villages, no sacrificial animals were slaughtered, and many families spent the day without meat on their tables.
According to United News of Bangladesh, residents of the chars spread across Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari, and Gaibandha districts faced mounting farm losses, debt burdens, and the constant threat of river erosion, overshadowing the festive spirit. The Rangpur region is home to around 700 chars, including nearly 450 in Kurigram alone. Each char accommodates between 150 and 500 families, most of whom depend entirely on agriculture for their livelihoods.
This year, poor returns from major crops such as potato, paddy, and maize have left many farming households struggling to make ends meet. For 68-year-old farmer Makbul Hossain of Gobardhan area in Mahishkhocha union of Aditmari upazila in Lalmonirhat, Eid brought little reason for celebration. Despite spending most of his life cultivating land, he says he has rarely faced such financial distress. After suffering losses of more than Tk 3 lakh from potato farming on 11 bighas of land, he is still burdened with loans amounting to around Tk 2.5 lakh. He had hoped that Boro paddy would help recover some of the losses, but low market prices dashed those expectations.
The situation is equally grim in Falimari, a river island settlement in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, where around 300 families live along the Dharla River. For days, residents have been living under the shadow of river erosion. Even on Eid day, sections of the riverbank continued to collapse. Last year, villagers sacrificed two cattle and three goats. This year, not a single animal was sacrificed. Saheda Bewa, a resident of the char, said the river swallowed three bighas of her land and homestead just a week ago.
On Char Tepamadhupur in Kaunia upazila of Rangpur, 65-year-old farmer Ali returned home from Eid prayers carrying a heavy heart. He could not afford new clothes for any of the seven members of his family. Last year, he shared in a cow sacrifice. This year, buying meat from the market was beyond his means. Ali cultivates around 25 bighas of land and is currently carrying debts of nearly Tk 3 lakh. Pressure from creditors continues to mount.
According to local community leaders, such stories are now common across much of the char belt. Prof Shafiqul Islam Bebu, convener of the Kurigram District Char Development Committee, said most char communities were unable to perform animal sacrifices this year. Agriculture officials acknowledge the challenges. According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the Rangpur region is home to nearly 12 lakh farming families, including around 4 lakh living in char areas. Paddy, potato, and maize remain the principal crops.
Md Sirazul Islam, additional director of the DAE Rangpur division, said farmers had achieved good production this season but were hurt by low market prices and rising cultivation costs. ‘Farmers are disappointed because returns have not matched their investments. The impact is visible even in major social and religious occasions like Eid. If farmers continue to incur losses year after year, many may lose interest in agriculture altogether,’ he said.
As the nation celebrated Eid-ul-Azha with sacrifice and festivity on Thursday, many families in the northern chars spent the day counting losses, guarding eroding riverbanks, and worrying about the future – far removed from the joy usually associated with the festival.