PHOTO: TITU DAS

SUSHANTA GHOSH, Barishal

For the people of the boat-dwelling Manta community in Barishal, Eid celebrations are rather short-lived. The hardships they face on a daily basis return the very next day.

On Eid day, many Manta families may manage to enjoy chicken and rice. However, they revert to their usual meals the following morning.

For decades, hundreds of Manta people have been living on boats along the riverbanks in the region.

For the floating community, their lives begin and end on water.

More than 500 people from around 115 boats make up the fleet along the Bukhainagar River. They travel long distances across the rivers with hooks and nets for fishing, their only livelihood.

“With strong winds and good availability of fish in the rivers, this is a busy time for us,” said Jasim Uddin, a leader of the fleet.

“On Eid day, we all ate rice with chicken. However, on the next day, we returned to our usual meal of watered rice in the morning, and went out fishing in the Mohammad

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