S A Shofiee , Sylhet :
Maximum markets in Sylhet city remain open whole day and night from Friday as Eid shopping gained momentum. Large number of people in the Sylhet city are gathered at the markets to buy new dresses for their family and dear and near ones for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the major religious festivals of the Muslim community. The people who will leave Sylhet for their home village to observe Eid are buying the dresses in a hurry. The local people of Sylhet are waiting to buy their dresses on Chand Night (last night of Ramadan). It is a tradition in Sylhet that the people of Sylhet use to buy new dresses for Eid on Chand Night.
Meanwhile, some of the shopping centers and markets already declared discounts, Eid sale festival, coupons to attract the customers in the Sylhet city. There is no illumination at the shopping centers in the Sylhet city for Eid shopping this year. Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) stepped down stern security measures to maintain the law and order situation in the port city for upcoming Eid.
The owners of the shops are using power from PDB instead of generator. The leaders of shop owners associations of several markets categorically admitted that they could manage the officials of PDB to supply power in the markets after 10 pm till Eid. As a result, people of Sylhet are suffering from load shedding in the nights of Ramadan. Meanwhile, the administration directed the owners of shops and businessmen to stop all illumination and decoration during Ramadan.
Over 100 shopping establishments and several thousands of shops of the city remained jam-packed with the Eid shoppers regularly. A large number of customers irrespective of male, female and children have thronged at all the local markets of the city to purchase their favorite dress for observance of Eid festival. On the other hand, the renowned tailoring shops already stopped to take orders for shirt, pant, seloar and camijes and other gents and ladies wears after the first week of Ramadan in the Sylhet city. So, the gathering at the tailoring shops in the city is declined now.
Most of the customers are female who are in the selection of their dress like sarees and other cosmetics goods are moving from shop to shop to collect their favourite ones. Besides, the Jahur Hawker market and footpath hawkers are the only source for Eid shopping for the poor people.
