Chawkbazar, the largest iftar market of Bangladesh, was empty on the first day of Ramadan as the nationwide strict lockdown also began on Wednesday.
Every year, a temporary Iftar market is set up on the street in front of the Shahi Mosque in Chawkbazar. However, with the exception of a few permanent restaurants, there were no temporary shops set up on the road this time.
According to locals, police instructed shopkeepers and traders not to set up street side iftar shops amid the lockdown to curb the transmission of coronavirus, reports Bangla Tribune.
People standing in queue while maintaining social distancing to buy iftar items at one of the few permanent shops that sold. However, no temporary shops were allowed to set up amid lockdown in Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area on Wednesday, April 14, 2021 Dhaka TribuneSome people still came looking for iftar items after the Asr prayers, even in the lockdown.
Jamshed Alam came to Chawkbazar from Jigatola to buy iftar items. He said: "I buy Iftar items from Chawkbazar on the first day of Ramadan every year, but there are no shops this time.”
A few restaurants that were open claimed sales were low.
An employee at Alauddin Sweetmeat said that they had arranged only a few items due to the lockdown, but most of the items still went unsold as there were few buyers.
