‘Give us food or kill us NOW’: Over 200 daily wagers say they haven’t had a morsel to eat for past four – Ahmedabad Mirror

It’s holy Ramzan, so Ali Ahmed is fasting these days. Ideally, he should be breaking his roza at dusk with some food, but for the past four days he has had only water—there’s no food; not even a morsel. He and his three children, like a few hundred others living on the footpaths near Victoria Garden (Ellisbridge), have been surviving only on water, thanks to a lockdown that has brought the city to a grinding halt. These are not migrants. Locals of Ahmedabad, they are daily wagers who have stopped earning anything since the third week of March when PM Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown.

Already leading a hand to mouth existence, they have been struggling to satiate their hunger. If they are lucky they get a meal once in twothree days.

“Till last week, we had people coming here to distribute cooked food. So it was not much of an issue. We didn’t have money, but at least there was food. However, for the past few days, even they have stopped coming,” said Ali, referring to the complete shutdown in the city announced last week.

On Sunday, Ali and around 200 other footpath dwellers gathered outside Victoria Garden hoping to catch the attention of civic authorities. All they wanted was food.

“We used to live in Vatva. But because of the lockdown, I could not earn and hence could not pay the rent. So my three children (youngest is just two years old) and I left that house and came here to live on the footpath,” said Ali. His wife passed away some time ago.

Like Ali, Isu Moiddin has been observing Roza, but has no food to break his fast.

“I have water after the roza. Forget fruits, I do not have even a grain of food. I live alone, but the sight of hungry children pains me. Adults can somehow manage, but what do we tell the children?” he asked in anguish. No ration

Sharda Dhirubhai used to work at the flower market in Jamalpur, but hasn’t had any work since the lockdown was announced. “We have five children. They are all starving. Even the volunteers have stopped coming for the past few days. I have only one request to make. Give us food or kill us at one go. I went to beg last night, but could not