‘I haven't eaten handful of rice for 3 days’: Elderly man battles hunger as Bangladesh celebrates Victory Day

"Brother, I haven't eaten for three days. There's no income when the Memorial is closed. I can't afford to buy food. Some days it's a fritter, some days a cigarette; that's how life is going."

These are words by Mohammad Yunus Ali, a man in his sixties, sitting at the National Memorial grounds with a weighing machine on Tuesday. While Victory Day was celebrated in festive spirit, his own life was marked by a silent struggle against hunger.

When asked what Victory Day means to him, Yunus Ali briefly paused and said, "Victory Day is good. Everyone celebrates. But for me, the day is not good. I haven't eaten even a handful of rice for three days."

The visitors at the National Memorial are his only source of income. When someone measures their weight, Yunus earns a few taka. But whenever the Memorial is closed for security reasons, his income stops completely.

He said, "Kaka, don't ask about me. If you need to weigh yourself, do it, and leave whatever you wish. My heart is breaking."

Yunus Ali, a resident of Bera upazila in Pabna, currently lives in the Nabinagar area of Savar. In his household, it is only he and his wife. Although they have children, none of them look after their parents.

Sharing his condition, he said, "I have grown old, I don't get work. I eat whatever I find, and if I don't, I go without."

When asked about his expectations from the state on Victory Day, without making big demands he said, "Let there be peace in the country."

He added, "Even if I have no income, I have no sorrow. But we need a good government." 

Yunus Ali also shared his experience of losing his right to vote. "I went to cast my vote in the last upazila election. When I arrived, they told me, 'Uncle, your vote has already been cast.'"

"I am the owner of my vote. If the election is fair, I will cast it; if not, I won't," he said.

Although he criticised many politicians over food security, he singled out Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani with respect. In Yunus Ali's words, "Sheikh Mujib, Zia, Ershad; everyone has criticisms. But Bhashani does not."

He also recalled seeing Bhashani with his own eyes in Kushtia. "Bhashani used to say, kick the ballot box; first arrange food and shelter."

Extreme poverty has brought him to a point where his own body has become his last asset. Day after day, he has been trying to sell a kidney. "Better to sell a kidney than die of hunger," said Yunus Ali.