It was around 6pm on the Eid day. A different type of meat market was seen on the roadside adjacent to the Azimpur graveyard in the capital. A number of men, women and children with bags full of meat were trying to draw attention of the passers-by.
“It is halal Kurbani meat. You can buy it for a reasonable price,” they were heard saying aloud to attract buyers. People started gathering in no time and began to bargain to buy the meat.
Upon conversing with the sellers and buyers, it was learnt that all of them came from lower income group.
Most from the seller group were beggars and their relatives. Some beggars bring their relatives from village to collect meat on the Eid day. Later they sell that meat and buy rice, dal and other daily essentials with the money. Among the buyer group, there were rickshaw pullers, auto-rickshaw drivers, fish traders, garment workers, tailors and seasonal butchers.
In this makeshift market, the meat was not sold by proper weights but by guessing the weight with a balance scale. Both the groups seemed to be happy for successfully completing a deal.
Sayed Hasan, a tailor by profession and a resident of Nawabganj, bought a packet of meat for Tk2000. He said: “I have no ability to sacrifice a cow or goat during the Eid. My wife had learnt from a woman that Kurbani meat was sold here and that’s why I came.”
Shahid Mia, a vegetable trader, was standing on the road with a bag full of meat to sell. His asking price was Tk1500 for the whole bag. He lived in Narayanganj with his wife and a 5-year old daughter.
Asked about selling of meat, he said he had come to Azimpur to collect meat from houses. “If I can sell the meat, I will try to buy a dress to fulfil my girl’s demand,” he said in a shaky moist voice.
Another buyer Jarina Begum, wife of an auto-rickshaw driver, said: “We are poor but cannot collect meat by going from houses to houses. Usually, beef is Tk280 to Tk300 per kg in the market but we can buy it from here for only Tk200.”
Aziz Mia, a rickshaw puller from Kamrangirchar, earned Tk800 on Eid day and bought a packet of meat for Tk1200 from this market. He said he lived in a small room with his wife, three daughters and one son. A few days ago they wanted to meat. So he saved some money and bought the meat.
Very different from the usual bazaar, this type of meat market was seen in other areas of Dhaka on the Eid day.
