PESHAWAR
Known as ships of the deserts, camels have started attracting faithful in substantial numbers at cattle markets to commemorate 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 longer period of time 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 June 17 across the country including Khyber Pakthunkhwa.
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 interprovincial cattle dealers in a bid to earn maximum profits at the lucrative market of Peshawar during Eidul Azha.
“The people’s response in camels as sacrificial animals is very positive this year owing to its affordable prices compare to other large sacrificial animals including cow, oxen and buffalos on Eidul 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.”
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 tastes like lamb meat that double my Eid joy,” he said and added it also does not have that peculiar smell mostly associated with lamb meat and 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 on this Eid for the first time in his life.
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 was slaughtering camels on Eid ul Azha for last five years and his family likes their meats due to 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 Pakthunkhwa.
Hidayat said that he always hired professional butchers and pay 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 the 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 linked one way or other 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.
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 utilized 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 has not developed the taste for such meat.
However, the trend is now changing speedily due to awareness among people about medicinal importance of camel milk and meat for humans.
According to Pakistan Tanneries Association, over six million animals, including goats, sheep, cows and camels, worth about Rs531 billion had been sacrificed last year during Eid Al-Adha.
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 Al-Adha, as per preliminary data compiled by the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) on the basis of 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 animals 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 of beef, milk and sacrificial animals.
Dr Aftab said that fumigation spray at cattle markets are being conducted to counter animal diseases in the province and teams including DVM doctors were deployed at different cattle markets for monitoring of animals and for spraying of insecticides.
He urged the cattle owners to ensure cleanliness and use mosquito repellent besides cold shelters as a safety measure for 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.
