Eid ul Azha, nothing is wasted!

A cow on the morning of Eid, seconds before it is sacrificed

On one single day of Eid ul Azha, an estimated three million animals, mostly cows, are slaughtered in Bangladesh, the second largest Muslim country in the world after Indonesia. Probably nowhere in the world are so many cows sacrificed in such a short period of time. Next in line for the event come the sacrifices of goats, sheep, buffaloes, and in some rare cases camels, smuggled in from India.
Centering the mammoth religious event, come arrays of different activities involving an incredible number of people, each doing his specific job. Bangladesh brings to life some of the most stunning behind-the-scene industries, at this time.

A city dweller walks away from a cattle market after just buying his sacrificial bull.

It starts from the city cattle markets, where buyers descend to purchase their sacrificial animals from farmers and cattle traders, all coming from different parts of the country on lorries or waterways. On the other hand are the hundreds of cowboys (herders) accompanying the cattle.
For two to three days prior to Eid-day, the entire city wakes up to the noise of animals tied inside apartment blocks, houses and on the streets. A section of people sell fodders on the roadsides. As Eid nears, blacksmiths work day and night to forge out knives, large and small.
This is the time that hogla (large mats made of a leafy grass) manufacturers of the country, send out millions of pieces of their products across the country. Most of these animals are slaughtered on the streets and these disposable mats are used for placing the meat. The mats are washable, cheap and biodegradable. Bamboo baskets from different parts of the country flood the markets too.
Another section of people sell logs (chopping boards). Others roam the streets offering their services of sharpening all sorts of knives with the traditional sharpeners placed on their shoulders.
The residents book all the professional butchers in advance. The butchers charge for their services based on the price of the cattle. Many rickshaw pullers, day laborers and slum dwellers take to butcher’s job for the day, grabbing a piece of the big cake.

An exhausted cowboy (cattle herder) from Sherpur, dozes off in the shade just next to a cattle market in the city.

It is during this time the economic vibrancy of this crowded South Asian nation can be witnessed; a wide range of specialized services are provided for around 145 million Muslims.
On the day of Eid, the slaughtering starts just after the morning congregations. Blood stained mullahs roam the localities with sword-like knives to do the job, following the religious rituals. By midday, the entire city is stained with animal blood.
The preference for cows among the urban and rural Muslim population is not because they are big beefeaters. Islam allows seven shares with a single cow, meaning up to seven people can chip in to buy a cow, share the meat equally and also tag seven names for the sacrifice. Islam restricts the number to only one share with smaller animals.
Once the cow has been cut and beef taken into the kitchens, a formidable army of pickers with their three-wheelers come into the fray.  They pick anything that is thrown away. In fact, nothing of the cow or the goat gets wasted, other than the blood and the hair.

A picker displays his pick of the day: cow ears.

The pickers load their three-wheelers with jaws, hoofs, skulls, mouths, ears, horns and even the genitals of the animals, and head for the buyers in the tannery district of Hazaribagh. A huge informal sector of factories has grown in the filthy areas of Hazaribagh, from where the big tanneries also operate. Most of these body parts are turned into poultry or fish feeds, and the horns and hoofs are processed into industrial gum. The relentless pickers work through the nights making a living out of the wastes of Qurbani (sacrifice).
Piles and piles of genitals retrieved from the streets are the only edible item for export to Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore, for the high-end gastronomical industry there. But here they are kept in the most squalid condition, under the scorching sun.

A mound of cow genitals, the only edible item that is destined for export, stored outdoors.

Big tanners have their agents buying the hides and piling them by the roadside at different corners of the city, from early afternoon. Last year, Bangladesh earned US$ 1.29 billion, the fifth largest foreign currency earner of the country, from the export of leather.
The remarkable part of the story is how quickly this massive event gets rounded up in the most organized manner, which might otherwise look extremely chaotic to an outsider’s eyes. The days to follow after the slaughtering might have a slight stink in the city air, but that is of the blood only.
Report and Photos: Morshed Ali Khan

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Posted by Reportsbd on Sep 27 2015. Filed under Home Slide, Special Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry