Getting an animal around Eid is a herculean task for many middleclass and white collar people.
Some succeed in their mission while others either have to increase their price range or opt for collective sacrifice by buying a part of a cow.
Cattle dealers in cattle markets always try to sell their animals at the highest rates as possible; for them it is the fruit of a year’s long labour. The whole process of buying a sacrificial animal has turned into a game of expectations where the customer expects to find an animal that falls in his financial range while the seller expects to get full fruit for his efforts.
“I increase my range every year to purchase a goat for sacrifice but fall short of money whenever I enter the cattle market,” said Qaiser Shehzad, a government employee. Talking to APP he said it was a difficult task for a salaried class person to buy a suitable animal for sacrifice through his savings.
During a visit to the 1/11 cattle market, it was found that the normal range for goats falls between Rs 20,000 to Rs 40000, sheep Rs 18,000 to Rs 45,000 and cow Rs 90,000 to Rs 300,000. Prices vary depending on the beauty and weight of the animal. Amjad Iqbal, an employee from a private organisation said that the holy practice has been converted into a source of profiteering by mafia.
He said that people are first looted by these cattle sellers and then the remaining process was completed by butchers who take a hefty amount for slaughtering sacrificial animals. Ghulam Qadir, a cattle trader at the I-11 cattle market, said that he had worked hard to nourish his cattle throughout the year, and it was his right to get a reasonable price.
He said that the prices of different commodities, including fodder, increase every year, which was the main reason behind higher rates of cattle.
On the other side of the picture, there is a segment of society which has turned the holy practice into a competition to see who can show off more. These are the people who go above and beyond the expectations of the sellers. They often purchase animals on rates that are higher than what the vendor was expecting.
They purchase animals on high prices just to get prominent and highlighted among their circle of friends, neighbours and family.
Abdul Hadi, another cattle seller told APP that people do pay more for certain animals on the basis of their beauty. He said he preferred to bring beautiful animals in the market as they return more in terms of income.
Pakistan is rich in agricultural products, and has a large livestock population with around 13 million hides and 47.4 million skins per annum, which contributes about USD 1.2 billion to the national economy every year.
As per a report of Pakistan Tanners Association (central office Karachi), nearly 7.3 million animals were sacrificed on Eid-ul-Azha last year including 2.5 million Cows and Buffaloes, four million Goats, 0.8 million Sheep and 30,000 Camels, contributing billions of rupees to the national exchequer.
Despite the fact that the buying capacity of customers continues to decline every year, the numbers more or less remain the same.