Muslims gear up for Bakrid fervour

Hyderabad: With Id-ul-Adha approaching. the issue of ‘cattle sacrifice’ has popped up yet again. Cattle traders have started bringing in the sacrificial animal, but with great caution.

The Telangana state with its 50 lakh Muslim population sees huge number of sheep and cattle being sacrificed during Bakrid. According to the Telangana Social Development Report- 2017, there are about 44.65 lakh Muslims in Telangana state, 17.13 lakh constituting 43.5 per cent of the total Muslim population of the state, live in Hyderabad.

Every year close to two lakh sheep are sacrificed across the state during the Bakrid. “But only about 20,000 cattle are sacrificed owing to several factors including availability. The sacrifice of cow was stopped long ago following concerns of peace expressed by the community. Next, the traders did not want to get on the wrong side of the law,” said Mohd Muneer Qureshi, member, Jamiatul Quresh Hyderabad.

He added that traders were now cutting down the cattle business as they were reporting more losses than profits especially during Bakrid. “Most of the traders borrow money and purchase cattle from farmers and shift them to the city. On the way, the cattle are snatched away by cow vigilantes or the police alleging animal cruelty,” he added.

However, with Bakrid closing in, the cattle traders are more worried this year owing to the ‘open threats’ by some leaders.

Clarifying the government’s stand, home minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy told the media that things will move as it did earlier and nobody could take law into their hands. “Of course, there is a ban on slaughter of cow and action will be initiated against any person violating the law. But there is no ban on the sacrifice of buffalo and bull in the state,” he said.

“A seven-year-old bull is sold for '30,000 in the village and spend another '2,000 for transportation. We have to sell it for '35,000, as there are no takers,” said Hashim Qureshi, a cattle trader.

Last year, the police had registered about 85 cases against cattle traders for various violations and nearly two dozen cases were registered against persons who attacked cattle traders.

Mohammed Saleem, MLC who is also president of the Jamait ul Quresh, Telangana said that the police should initiate action against trouble mongers.