Chattogram's low-income people sell extra meat collected on Eid day
In Chattogram city, low-income workers like Abu Saeed are selling surplus meat collected from those who had sacrificial animals on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha. Abu Saeed, a seasonal day laborer, worked as a butcher in three houses in the Khulshi area, receiving about 10 kg of meat and Tk4,000 as payment. He divided the meat into three portions and sat at the GEC intersection for sale.
Abu Saeed, who resides with his family in a slum in Khulshi's Jhowtla, explained that he enrolled his son in a Madrasa to study Hafezi, and the money earned from selling the meat would be used for his education expenses. Facing the rising cost of daily necessities, Abu Saeed decided to sell the meat to make ends meet, in addition to his work as a club employee and occasional rickshaw driving.
Other low-income individuals have also joined Abu Saeed in selling excess meat in various important intersections of the city, such as GEC, Gate number two, Muradpur, Bahaddarhat, Wasa, Kazir Deuri, Dewanhat, Chawkbazar, New Bridge, New Market, AK Khan, Colonelhat, and Oxygen. These intersections have turned into temporary meat markets, where buyers purchase meat according to their requirements.
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The meat is being sold at prices ranging from Tk600 to Tk800 per kilogram, depending on the quality. Many sellers are offering the meat in bags and conducting bids based on the amount of meat, with prices reaching Tk1200, Tk1500, Tk1800, Tk2500, Tk3500, and Tk5000. Buyers engage in bargaining before making a purchase.
At the GEC intersection, couple Badsha Mia and Rima Akhtar are selling meat at Tk5,000 per bag. Badsha Mia, a day labourer, and Rima Akhtar, a domestic worker, brought the meat they collected throughout the day from homesteads near the Karnaphuli River to sell in two parts. They sold one portion for Tk5,500 and the last bag for Tk5,000. The couple stated that they kept some meat for their own consumption and intended to use the proceeds to pay off debts.
Mohammad Ali Garibullah Shah, a resident of the city, who currently resides in Garibullah Shah Mazar, was selling one kilogramme of beef donated by people. Shah Jahan, a CNG driver, was buying the meat. Shahjahan explained that he couldn't afford to sacrifice an animal, so he bought the meat for his family.
Muhammad Ali, who has no family in the city and lacks cooking facilities, sold a kilogram of meat for Tk600.
Madina Begum, on her way to her sister's house in the Bayezid Bostami area, bargained to buy some meat at Gate No2. Madina bought the meat for Tk1,200 to give to her sister, as her sister's family couldn't afford to sacrifice an animal.
According to Islamic tradition, sacrifice is considered a significant act of worship. The rules dictate that one-third of the meat should be reserved for the poor, while one-half is for relatives and the remaining half is for oneself. In Chattogram, the needy and impoverished individuals visited houses to obtain their share of meat.
The Chittagong District Livestock Department reported that this year, 50,000 sacrificial animals were prepared in 3,000 small and large farms in the region.
