There is a huge market for Bakra online, Alnoor Goat Farm & Supplier selling Eid Ka Bakra as small as 5 kg for Rs 12,000/Piece. Jamnapari Goats at Shani Goat Farm Antop Hill, Mumbai sold for Rs 25,000/Piece. Live Goat Meatking Malad East, Mumbai selling an average goat at Rs 6,000/Piece. Male and Female Devnar Goats are for Rs 7,000/ per Piece. But all these traders have gone online.
When we asked Malad based meat trader Akram Shaikh a reason for online trading, he told Afternoon Voice, “Online trading is hassle free, we don’t need a specific place to store our animal, meanwhile they can be where they are raised, and we don’t even need to wait for customers. Online sell becomes easy in such pandemic period.”
Ratan Lal a butcher said, “By selling goats online we can save ourselves from hooligans, there are many protesters and moral custodian groups, they attack us randomly”. Online sales provide us basic safety.
Goat traders from across India who have assembled in Deonar find it difficult to sell their goats due to the online market. However, this year due to the whole confusion over the government’s online-sale of goat’s order, only 70 to 75,000 goats have entered Mumbai. Usually, by this time, three lakh goats would have come to the city. And as the Muslim community is mostly into small trades and crafts, due the lockdown their businesses are shut and there is no income for many people. This has resulted in the poor purchasing power. Despite the fewer number of goats available, there aren’t many buyers. A goat which would have sold for Rs 25,000 is not getting even Rs 20,000.
On the other hand, CM Uddhav Thackrey urged people to avoid slaughtering goats in flats, houses and constricted spaces compromised with hygiene and sanitation. Last year even the court has asked BMC to “strictly and stringently maintain all applicable safety, hygienic and public safety norms and requirements and to move expeditiously against all violations.”
Meanwhile to spread the message of brotherhood, the Muslim wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) decided to celebrate the Bakra Eid by cutting a cake with ‘No Bakra Goat’. Revealing the details, Sayeed Hassan Kausar said, Bakra Eid can also be celebrated by cutting a cake, just like people celebrate birth anniversaries, adding the step will spread a message of humanity.
In India, there is no blanket ban on animal sacrifice. There exists, however, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules 2017, notified by the environment ministry, considered highly controversial. Under the Rules, the sale of cattle is banned for slaughter, including for religious purposes. However, goats and poultry are exempted. But the Rules — and the food safety standards — do demand that animals must be slaughtered at registered abattoirs and follow certain guidelines.
