Known as ships of the deserts, camels have started attracting faithful in substantial numbers at cattle markets to celebrate the supreme sacrifices of Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) and Hazrat Ismail (AS).
Mostly brought from Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh provinces, camels– known for their steadfastness in hot weather and for going without food and water for a longer period while transporting people and supplies over extensive distances in deserts, draws people’s attention in cattle markets established in different locations of Peshawar for Eidul Azha to be celebrated on coming Monday (June 17) across the country including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The cattle markets at Lala Kala, Ring Road, Hayatabad, Warsak Road, Pabbi and Amangarh Nowshera were flooded with camels brought from Jacobabad, Tharparkar, Cholistan, Quetta and others cities of the above provinces by inter provincial cattle dealers in a bid to earn maximum profits at the lucrative market of Peshawar during Eidul Azha.
“The people’s response to camels as sacrificial animals is very positive this year owing to its affordable prices compared to other large sacrificial animals including cow, oxen and buffalos on Eid-ul-Azha,” said Ibrahim Khan, an inter-provincial cattle dealer of Nowshera at Lala Kala cattle market while talking to APP.
“I have transported 20 camels from Quetta for Eid and sold 12 of them so far,” he said, adding prices of the friends of the deserts were largely dependent upon their overall health, age and height.
“The residents of interior Peshawar take more interest in camel sacrifices than other people of the city as one camel was available from Rs 5lakh to Rs 7 lakh as special Eid offer”, he said.
The traders have beautifully decorated their camels with colourful designs made by expert barbers to attract buyers. “We engage barbers to make them attractive as just the chains, bells and beads were not enough to grab visitors’ attention,” said another cattle dealer, Mosa Khan.
“I came from Hayatabad Peshawar to buy camels for the performance of collective Qurbani on this Eid,” said Muhammad Arif, a buyer at Ring Road cattle market.
“Personally, I like camel meat due to its unique taste like lamb meat that doubles my Eid joy,” he said and added it also does not have that peculiar smell mostly associated with lamb meat. It is the best kind of meat to use during Eid days with families. “I like young camels aged up to six years as its meat is full of energy and cooks easily,” he said, adding his father late Abdul Akbar Khan had also slaughtered camels during Eidul Azha.
“When I was young, I went with my father to a cattle market, who purchased a camel after examining his teeth,” he said, adding he had bought Tharparkar’s camel this Eid for the first time.
As the trend of slaughtering of camels rises in KP, the camel dealers of other provinces have brought stocks to Peshawar for better wages during Eidul Azha.
Hidayat Khan, a buyer at Lala Kala cattle market said that he has been slaughtering camels on Eidul Azha for the last five years and his family likes their meats due to their high protein and energy perspective. However, he said the camel slaughter is still new for most of the citizens in his village and attracts crowds, mostly kids, to watch an out-of-routine activity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Hidayat said that he always hired professional butchers and paid Rs 10,000 to him for slaughtering a camel during Eid. Likewise, a good number of relatives and friends used to approach him for seeking camel meat besides exchanging ox and buffalo meat. “Like any other child, my kids also enjoy camel rides that double their joy on Eidul Azha.
Dr Aftab Ahmed, Director Livestock and Dairy Development KP said that about 0.328 million households are linked in one way or another with camels’ production in Pakistan. Camel meat is nutritionally as good as any conventional meat source and has an edge over beef or lamb due to its low intramuscular fat and cholesterol content and high iron, he added.
Dr Aftab said the camel meat possesses remedial effects on conditions such as hyperacidity, hypertension, pneumonia, and respiratory diseases. Furthermore, the ships of deserts meat is also utilised to reduce the risk of gastritis, tapeworm infestation, hemorrhoidal pain, and seasonal fever.
The camel meat is mostly consumed by the people of rural and remote areas of the country including KP, as most of the citizens have not developed the taste for such meat. However, the trend is now changing speedily due to awareness among people about the medicinal importance of camel milk and meat for humans.
According to the Pakistan Tanneries Association, over six million animals, including goats, sheep, cows and camels, worth about Rs531 billion were sacrificed last year during Eidul Azha.
The approximately 6.1 million slaughtered animals include 2.6 million cows, 3 million goats, 350,000 sheep, 150,000 buffalos and 87,000 camels in Pakistan on Eid-ul-azha, as per preliminary data compiled by the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) based on hides received by tanneries last year. Dr Aftab Ahmad said that several checkpoints were established with the assistance of the provincial government at various places on highways connecting KP with merged areas to control the menace of cattle smuggling.
Former President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Yousaf Sarwar claimed that transportation of sacrificial animals to Afghanistan are major reason behind the hike of sacrificial animal prices in KP that needed to be regulated.
He underscored the need for a tripartite export agreement between Pakistan, India and Afghanistan to help meet people’s requirements for beef, milk and sacrificial animals. Dr Aftab said that fumigation sprays at cattle markets are being conducted to counter animal diseases in the province and teams including DVM doctors were deployed at different cattle markets to monitor animals and for spraying insecticides.
He urged the cattle owners to ensure cleanliness and use mosquito repellent besides cold shelters as a safety measure for the protection of animals from diseases and heat strokes.
In case of illness of any animal, he urged people to isolate it and inform Livestock officials forthwith for its treatment. Dr Aftab said the DVM doctors were assigned tasks to visit cattle markets and ensure that animals with symptoms of lumpy skin and mouth and foot diseases may be quickly isolated and treated on the spot.