"Brother, please take at least four bananas. If not, my family will have to go without food. They are already starving," said Shukkur Ali while pleading with this reporter to make a purchase.

Ali, a roaming vendor who sells fruits in Dhaka's Farmgate, said that he has had next to no sales for the past several weeks due to the unrest and curfew.

"Risking my life, the amount I could sell and profit I made would not cover my own expenses. So, how can I bear the expenses of my six-member family in such a situation?" he asked.

Ali, who hails from Rajbari, said he has been selling bananas in the Farmgate area for the past 10 years.

By selling bananas, he has been bearing the expenses of his son, who is studying at Government Rajendra College in Faridpur, and daughter, who studies at a school near his village in Bahadurpur of Pangsha upazila.

"I have no savings. The money I had has already been spent on family expenses. At present, I am unable to afford the living expenses of my family. Life cannot go on like this," Ali said.

While pointing out that his son passed SSC with a golden GPA-5 while his daughter is also an outstanding student, Ali said people think the two could enjoy great success in the future.

"I don't want my son's future to be like mine. That's why I am doing my best to pay for their education," he added.

Ali, the lone breadwinner for this family, said he spends at least Tk 10,000 every month on his son's education apart from the regular expenditures of his family who live in his village home.

"But right now, I am very helpless. Owing to the adverse situation, the condition of my business is horrible. In the last few weeks, I made sales of a maximum of Tk 400 per day," he added.

On a normal day, Ali can sell bananas worth about Tk 8,000.

When this reporter was talking to Ali, a vegetable vendor named Badal Mia also approached, requesting to write about his hard times during the widespread violence.

Mia shared a similar story about his hardships as the sales of his business significantly reduced owing to recent unrest centring the students' movement.

This reporter also spoke with other hawkers and street vendors, who all claimed that they are suffering huge losses due to clashes between law enforcement agencies and demonstrating students.

This is hampering economic activities and affecting peoples' daily lives, they said.

The clashes have left several hundred dead and thousands injured since it began on July 15-16 for the quota reform movement declared by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.