Sacrificing the inner beast: Bangladesh celebrating Eid-ul-Azha

Bangladesh celebrates Eid-ul-Azha, one of the biggest festivals for Muslims, on Monday

Eid-ul-Azha has arrived again with the spirit and fervour of self-correction and helping others while performing the ritual of sacrificing animals.

Through this ritual, Islam teaches to sacrifice the ill thoughts in one’s mind. As national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam wrote in his poem ‘Shahidi Eid’- “Moner poshure kor jobai/poshurao bache, bache sobai”, roughly translated to “sacrifice your inner beast/then everyone, along with the animals, will live on”.

Bangladesh will celebrate the second biggest festival of Muslims on Monday.

Those who can afford to sacrifice animals have already bought cattle. They will stand beside those who cannot afford it.

The main Eid congregation will be held at the National Eidgah in the morning, and Dhaka South City Corporation has prepared the ground for the prayers

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman inspected the National Eidgah on Sunday. They have taken stringent security measures surrounding the congregation site.

The roads and road-islands are adorned with colourful flags marking the occasion.

To celebrate Eid, special meals will be served at government hospitals, prisons, children's homes, and social centres for people with disabilities, government shelters, children development centres, safe homes, and Vagrant Welfare Centre.

Bangladesh Betar, Bangladesh Television and other private channels have been broadcasting special Eid programmes before Eid day and will continue after Eid.

Customers said they were struggling to balance between the high price of sacrificial animals, and shrinking budget due to inflation and skyrocketing prices of essentials.

Traders lamented the slow sale of animals.

Before the Eid holidays began on Sunday, many residents of the city started for their village homes earlier on Thursday after the schools were shut before Eid while Friday and Saturday were weekends.

The northern routes, including the Bangabandhu Bridge, saw heavy traffic on Friday. The traffic moved slowly but it was not as severe as it used to be..

Many homebound travellers paid extra fare and took the risk of travelling by trucks and pickups.

The number of road accidents before Eid was smaller this time.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that vehicles carrying animal and roadside cattle markets caused a little traffic jam but it was not something leading to severe trouble for the travellers.

On Friday morning, trains departed the stations on time, in an exceptional scene before Eid. However, the situation changed as the day rolled. The authorities could not even stop passengers from travelling on the trains’ rooftops.

Although the railway authorities introduced an online ticketing system, passengers complained that there were still blackmarket sales. Some of the blackmarketers were arrested as well. Due to an excessive number of passengers, intercity trains were carrying passengers more than their capacity using standing tickets.

In Dhaka's cattle markets, sellers initially demanded high prices for sacrificial animals, but prices dropped towards the end, according to buyers and sellers.

A rush of cattle sales was observed at Gabtoli on Saturday. Hundreds of people crowded in front of the fee collection office. By Saturday evening, three to four cows were seen exiting the market per minute.

The weather forecast for Monday or Eid day predicts light to moderate rainfall or thundershowers with gusty winds across Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Sylhet divisions. Parts of Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Barishal divisions may also see similar weather conditions temporarily.

There is also a possibility of moderately heavy to very heavy rainfall in some parts of Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Sylhet divisions.

EID CONGREGATION SCHEDULE

As per tradition, the main Eid-ul-Azha Jamaat, or prayer congregation, will be held at the National Eidgah in Dhaka at 7:30am.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin, cabinet members, members of parliament, political leaders and people from all walks of life will take part in this congregation.

National mosque Baitul Mukarram will host five consecutive Eid congregations every hour starting 7am.

Like previous years, the biggest Eid congregation will be held at Kishoreganj's Sholakia.

A congregation for several hundred thousand people has also been arranged at the Gor-E-Shaheed Boro Maidan in Dinajpur.

WASTE REMOVAL IN DHAKA

On Eid morning in Dhaka, after prayers, every able family perform animal sacrifices. The city faces a challenge of swiftly disposing of at least 39,000 tonnes of waste from sacrificial animals and the markets.

The Dhaka North City Corporation aims to remove waste within six hours of slaughter while the South City Corporation plans to clean it up within 24 hours, starting at 2pm.

DNCC anticipates up to 1.2 million sacrificial animals this Eid, based on last year's experience.

During the last Eid, the DNCC removed 19,644 tonnes of waste over three days. This year, the waste volume is expected to increase slightly.

There is no information on the number of animals sacrificed in the DSCC area.

Last year, over 17,000 tonnes of waste were generated, and this year, DSCC anticipates around 18,000 tonnes.

To manage the waste in the DNCC area, 520 specialised vehicles, including 115 dump trucks, 140 pick-ups, and 129 compactors, will be deployed.

In the DNCC area, 9,337 workers will participate in the cleanup, including 2,394 DNCC workers, 2,323 private cleaners, 4,200 van service workers, and 420 other workers.

The DNCC will provide residents with 940,000 polybags, 100,000 biodegradable polybags, and 67,000 kg of bleaching powder for disposing of sacrificial animal waste.

The city corporation will use 4,500 litres of disinfectant on the roads.

DNCC Mayor Md Atiqul Islam said while it used to take several days to remove the waste, the time was reduced to eight hours last year. This year, the goal is to further decrease it to six hours.

In DSCC areas, to manage the cleanup, 9,497 cleaners will be deployed, comprising 4,997 DSCC workers and 4,500 private workers, with 60 cleaners assigned to each ward.

The cleanup operation will utilise a fleet of 560 vehicles, including 207 dump trucks, 150 mini trucks, 46 compactors, and 47 payloaders.

For the 11 markets in the DSCC area, 70 cleaners will be assigned to each. Moreover, 57 dump trucks, 12 payloaders, and 11 tire loaders will be used to remove hut waste.

To assist residents in managing sacrificial animal waste, DSCC will provide 940,000 polybags and 100,000 biodegradable polybags free of cost. Furthermore, 40 tonnes of bleaching powder and 1,110 litres of Savlon will be used to disinfect the roads.

DSCC Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said this year's waste removal strategy has been developed based on last year's experience.

He said, “Every year, our target is to remove the waste within 24 hours. So the waste generated on the Eid day will be removed within 24 hours and the waste generated on the following day will also be removed within 24 hours.”

The mayor said that the removal of cattle market waste will start the night before Eid.

RAWHIDE PRICES

The government has raised the price of cowhide in Dhaka by Tk 5 per sq ft and outside Dhaka by Tk 3 per sq ft compared to last year.

Tanners will now buy salted cowhide in Dhaka for Tk 55-60 per sq ft, up from Tk 50-55 last year.

The price of salted cowhide outside Dhaka will be Tk 50-Tk 55 per sq ft, compared to Tk 47-Tk 55 last year.

Accordingly, if the skin of a Tk 100,000 cow in Dhaka is 20 sq ft, then the price for that amount of rawhide will be Tk 1,200 in Dhaka and Tk 1,000 outside Dhaka.

Apart from this, salted goat rawhide will be sold for Tk 20-Tk 25 per sq ft, up from Tk 18 to Tk 20 last year. Goat rawhide will be Tk 18-Tk 20 per sq ft, up from Tk 12-Tk 14 last year.