Woman sells her land to distribute food among the poor

Nazim Uddin Sardar from Satkhira has proven that it is more important to have one's mind than wealth to feed the hungry.

A poor farmer himself, he was delivering food to the helpless in his area – after the district went on Covid-19 lockdown – when he realised there was an insufficient amount of food to go around.

The hungry people's suffering moved him greatly. He shared this with his mother, Mahfuza Begum, and they discussed how they could help the impoverished people.

Finding no other way, his mother sold the decimal of land she had inherited from her father, and gave the money to her son to stand beside the needy people.

Farmer Nazim Sardar is a son to late Chhobiyar Rahman from Dhopadanga village under ward four of Sakhipur union of Debhata upazila in the coastal district. He is also a former member of the union parishad.

"The area is in a serious food crisis because working people have no job. The people's plight saddened me because I am also a poor person. Our families make a living cultivating others' land," said Nazim.

"Then, I talked to my 75-year-old mother about these needy people. She said she would sell the decimal of land her father gave her – and use the earnings to help people," he continued.

Later, Nazim sold the land for Tk30,000 and bought 20 sacks of rice for Tk40,800. He distributed the rice to 100 poor families in the area.

"I still owe Tk10,800 to the rice seller," he added.

Nazim's elderly mother Mahfuza Begum said, "My son asked for some money from me to help the poor. Where was I supposed to get the money? I decided to sell my land and give the money to Nazim."

Regarding the incident, Sakhipur Union Parishad Chairman Sheikh Farooq Hossain Ratan said he had heard about Nazim's rice distribution but would not comment on it.

The union parishad is also distributing food provided by the government, the chairman said.

Debhata Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sajia Afrin said, "I came to know about the incident through Facebook. However, I do not know details about it."