The customary hugs will not be there after the Id prayers this year. The warmth will be there but the muted celebration will have a constant reminder of the unfolding human tragedy caused by a raging virus.
Muhammad Faizal, 34, a Beniapukur resident, came to New Market on the eve of Id on Thursday to buy new clothes. He returned with only one bag, containing a set of kurta pyjama for his 8-year-old nephew. In previous years, he had to bring along a friend as there would be too many bags.
“This is no time for grandeur because disease and death are all around. Normally, I have colleagues and friends coming over to our place for lunch. But this time, it is going to be just a family affair,” said Faizal, who works for an IT company in Sector V.
Hooghly, India – In November 2019, India’s Supreme Court approved the construction of a Hindu temple on disputed land in the northern town of Ayodhya, where there was once a medieval-era mosque.
Around the same time, authorities in the state of West Bengal – about 900km (559 miles) away – fenced a two-acre (0.8-hectare) land parcel in a sleepy neighbourhood of Hooghly district and barred all entry.
Hindu pilgrims argue the site, with remnants of a mosque and a robust minaret, in Pandua town about 100km (62 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of the West Bengal state, is a Hindu shrine of goddess Shrinkhala Devi.