Mohammad Belal already knows how he will spend Eid morning tomorrow.
The 50-year-old security guard will not be in his village in Bogura, praying beside his family or sitting down for an Eid meal at home. Instead, like every year, he will be standing at the gate of NN Tower in Kaderabad Housing, Katasur, Mohammadpur, where he has worked for the last eight years.
For Belal, Eid often comes late.
“If we work on Eid day, we get extra money along with meat,” he said. “On Eid day, the owner and many others help us by giving meat. I send this meat to my village the next day through someone I know. Or I go to the bus counter and send it by bus.”
After the Eid rush ends in Dhaka, Belal plans to visit his village home at Shaoil under Nashratpur union in Bogura’s Adamdighi upazila.
“I have taken leave from June 1. I will spend a few days with my family,” he said. “It would have felt joyful if I could celebrate Eid with my family. But now I celebrate Eid after Eid.”
Across Dhaka, many security guards share the same reality every Eid-ul-Azha.
As residents prepare for Qurbani, security guards stay behind at apartment buildings and offices. They guard empty flats, manage gates, check visitors, help move sacrificial animals, control vehicle movement and assist residents throughout the busy day.
Their workload often increases on Eid day as butchers, cleaners, guests and meat collectors move in and out of buildings.
Many of these guards come from districts outside Dhaka, including Cumilla, Rangpur, Barishal, Jamalpur, Faridpur, Manikganj and Mymensingh.
Security guards said most of them want to go home for Eid, but work responsibilities often make that impossible.
Belal said whether a guard gets leave depends largely on the number of guards working at a building.
“In buildings where there are three or four guards, some can go home for Eid. But where there is only one guard, that person has to spent the Eid day in Dhaka,” he said.
For Afzal Miah, a security guard on Eskaton Garden Road, Eid day starts early and rarely slows down.
After Eid prayers, he returns straight to work.
He helps residents move sacrificial animals, arrange water, open and close gates, manage traffic inside buildings and assist with meat distribution.
“On Eid day, everyone is busy. Someone brings a cow, someone looks for a butcher, someone sends people to deliver meat,” he said. “We have to stay at the gate all the time. If we are careless even for a moment, there may be a problem.”
Didar Hossain, another guard working in Mohakhali, said staying in Dhaka during Eid at least brings some financial benefit.
“If we work during Eid, we get Qurbani meat. Some people also give us money,” he said. “But the happiness of celebrating Eid with family is different.”
Some guards said residents in certain buildings ask about their families, offer food and meat, and provide Eid bonuses. Others said they receive little beyond extra work.
Salam Rahman, a flat owner in Lalmatia, said security guards become especially important during Eid.
“Many residents stay outside Dhaka. Those who remain in Dhaka also need help with Qurbani-related work,” he said. “So it is not possible to give everyone leave at the same time.”
For many of them, Eid arrives in two parts. The first is spent working in Dhaka while others celebrate. The second begins days later, when they finally return home.
Belal and Didar both said the hardest moments come on Eid day itself.
“Phone calls come from home. Children ask when their father will arrive. Wives ask whether they will again have to eat the Eid meal without him.”
Yet even small gestures sometimes make the sacrifice feel lighter.
“It feels good when residents say, ‘Brother, because you are here, we can go home without worry,’” said Kausar Hossain, a security guard at Tenari Mor. “Then the pain becomes a little less.”
Resident Ferdous Hasan Pranto said Eid carries different meanings for different people.
“For residents, Eid may mean travel, reunion and sacrifice,” he said. “For the guards, it is also a day of waiting.”
Their Eid begins only when duty ends.
