Eid celebrations being costly in Pakistan

08:45, November 17, 2010      
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Now, it seems that making God happy is being very difficult and costly in Pakistan as the bigger part of the population failed to buy cattle to offer sacrificial ritual on Eid-ul-Adha scheduled on Nov. 17.
Cattle traders at the cattle markets, established across the country, are facing disappointment due to lack of genuine buyers as high prices of almost all ranges of sacrificial animals are having a negative impact on their business.
Eid-ul-Adha or "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide as an act of obedience to God on the 10th of the month Zul-Hijjah, the last month of Islamic calendar.
Now every Muslim, who can purchase, is bound to sacrifice grown- up cattle for God and distribute its meat into three equal parts, one is retained by the family, second to relatives, friends and neighbors, and the other third is given to the poor & needy.
Traders who have brought animals to cattle markets in cities from across the country have been impatiently waiting for customers but people do not look willing to buy the animals as the rising inflation rate had decreased their purchasing power.
Majority of cattle traders, in Islamabad market, told Xinhua that demand for the sacrificial animals was very discouraging as compared to previous year. They also wished to sell their animals as early as possible because the fodder prices had registered a significant increase this year.
"This year people response is very slow due to price hike and declining purchasing power of the customers," a trader Umer Farooq told Xinhua.
Farooq has his own cattle farmhouse and used to transport animals to different cities on every Eid but this time higher rate of petroleum products had increased the carriage charges which caused almost 40 percent rise in cattle prices.
The minimum price of a goat or sheep is 13,000 rupees (1 U.S. dollars equals to 85 Pak rupees) while a pair is being sold at the rate of 26,000 rupees. Sellers are charging 15,000 rupees for a lamb and the pair of lambs is being sold at 30,000 rupees.
A good number after failing to reach a deal on prices were seen returning to their homes without buying sacrificial animals.
Asif Abbasi and Anmol were among those who returned home with empty-handed from a market set up outside the city.
"This time the rates of goats and sheep are beyond our reach. We have only 10,000 rupees to buy a sacrificial animal but seeing the rates we had no option but to return home," Abbasi stated.
Similarly, minimum price of a normal and weak cow or bull is 40, 000 rupees while a healthy cow is available for 80,000 to 100,000 rupees.
The high prices of the animals are due to many reasons; first a big quantity of cattle has been smuggled to the neighboring Afghanistan and second torrential flood which hit one fifth area of Pakistan perished the sources of fodder and a huge quantity of animals of million dollars worth.
Muhammad Aziz, a man visiting an animal market, told that it's almost impossible for a low paid employee like me to buy any cattle.
"I think, we shall have to celebrate this Eid without any sacrifice, there are also many other things to buy for my family like clothes, shoes and food items," said Aziz.
Usually people like to sacrifice goats or sheep but now people are taking interest to sacrifice bulls or cows collectively. Because in Islamic teachings goat or sheep is equal to one sacrifice while bull, cow or camel is equal to seven sacrifices. One can sacrifice his animal on one of any three days of Eid. So having this facility many people wait for the last two days to buy any animal on low rate.
Though the city government has banned sale of sacrificial animals on streets and roads and especially in residential areas but a large number of sellers are violating it. The sellers are of the view that they come to residential areas for the facilities of the residents so that they might not face the fatigue of coming to far away markets.
But the representatives of the government and city residents said that the arrival of the animals in the main city areas polluted the atmosphere and also disturbed traffic.
But some residents took benefits from these sellers because they sold animals on low rates then that of present in the special markets set up by the government.
According to local media reports, on the special occasion of Eid more than 10 million cattle are sacrificed in Pakistan which create a lot of jobs for poor people and business opportunities for businessmen. This occasion is also very helpful for the leather industry of the country.
Source: Xinhua