Eid-ul-Azha is knocking at the door, with only about a week to go. Dhaka's livestock markets have already opened and sacrificial animals have started arriving. Every Eid-ul-Azha, wealthy people sacrifice camels and dumba sheep as well as large cattle, and for them camels and dumbas brought from Pushkar in Rajasthan, India, have again been put up at the Gabtoli market this year. A pair of camels is being offered for Tk 60 lakh, which works out at Tk 30 lakh a camel.

That was the scene at the Gabtoli market on Monday (10 June). The camels and dumbas are kept beside the market's main road, and curious crowds have surrounded the "ships of the desert". Some were busy taking selfies, others filming. Several dozen YouTubers were seen around the two camels, busy making videos. But while there were plenty of people looking at the camels, not a single buyer was seen.

Many students of Commerce College had come from Pallabi in Mirpur, among them Rakib Hasan, Maruf Hasan, Oishi, Swapna and Ayan. They had mainly come to see the sacrificial animals.

Maruf said: "My father makes the sacrifice at our village home in Gazipur. We've already bought a cow. Still, I came to the market with friends to see the cattle. Then I saw camels had come to the market, so I'm looking at them. I really like it."

The world's biggest camel fair is held at Pushkar in Rajasthan. Many local and foreign tourists go there just to see it, and many buyers from Bangladesh also go to buy camels. Shipu of the Kotbari area of Gabtoli bought the two camels a month ago. They then entered Bangladesh legally by road through the border.

Owner Shipu claims each camel will yield 15 to 17 maunds of meat, and says he has been in the camel business for 15 or 16 years. The two camels are being fed grass, rice bran and wheat bran.

Shipu said: "I brought two camels from Rajasthan and put them up at the market. Our main aim is to sell them at the time of the sacrifice. We're asking Tk 30 lakh per camel, but I'll sell for Tk 28 lakh. Each camel will give 15 to 17 maunds of meat."

Dumbas are also on sale at the market, also brought from Rajasthan. Each is being offered for Tk 3 lakh, with the claim that each will yield 100 kg of meat. A dumba looks much like a sheep and is raised the same way. They eat bran, oilcake, pulse husks, rice bran and Napier grass every day.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.