Muslims throughout the world celebrate Eid ul-Azha or the Feast of the Sacrifice to honour the readiness of Hazrat Ibrahim (pbh) to sacrifice his dearest son Ismail as an act of supreme obedience to Allah. The basis for the Eid ul-Azha comes from the 196th verse of second Surah, Al Baqara ( The Cow), and the word "Eid" appears in the fifth Sura al-Mai'da (The Table Spread) of the Qur'an meaning 'solemn festival'. The days of Eid ul-Azha are the 10th of Dhul Hijjah up to the 12th of Dhul Hijjah (three days and two nights); sacrifice may take place until sunset on the 13th day. In the Indian subcontinent, the festival is known as Bakr-Id because of the tradition of sacrificing goats.
Eid ul-Azha, in effect, centres around the festivity of sacrifice, having an impact on the socio-economic arena. Eid ul-Azha corresponds to the Hajj, and the national economy has to transact a substantial amount, mostly in foreign currency during the time. This year, one hundred ten thousands five hundred seventy six pilgrims from Bangladesh have gone to Saudi Arabia for performing Hajj. Each pilgrim is expected to spend, on an average, three hundred thousand taka which entails a total of around Tk 43 billion, equivalent to $515 million. The Hajj has been a major source of foreign currency earning for the Saudi economy and an important foreign exchange spending for countries sending pilgrims since the earliest days when the hajj was introduced.
Sacrificing cattle is the central activity in the Eid ul-Azha leading to a huge financial involvement and economic activities. According to Bangladesh Tanners' Association (BTA), about thirty five hundred thousand cows and fifty hundred thousand goats will be sacrificed this year, and total trading will involve around Tk 160 billion. Bangladesh is heavily dependent on the supply of cattle from India. India exports about 10 million cattle to Bangladesh annually, out of which around four million are dispatched during the Eid (formally and informally). Bangladesh government should earn Tk 2.0 billion as revenue, (@ Tk 500 per cattle).
Eid ul-Azha is also the main season for producing hides and skins. Sixty per cent of the total export of hides and skins is made following the celebration of this festival. Markets for spices and electronic gadgets (refrigerators, in particular) witness bumper sales hovering around hundreds of billion taka ahead of Eid.
Performance of Hajj and the sacrifice of cattle during the Eid celebration generate money supply, promote trade and business, create job, and bring boom for the economy at large. Competent macro management of such supply-side economy could be crucially important for sustainable development. The cost-effectiveness of Hajj management would have served the economy if our own infrastructural facilities were there to cater to the needs of the pilgrims in an effective and efficient manner. The management of cattle as well as hide and skin trading should have been better organised. The economy would have been fairly benefited from this important sector if a far-sighted plan were in place to handle border trade, check corruption and syndication.
The Eid cattle market has no direction; it is left to three Ss -- the syndicated traders, smugglers and snatchers. It is reported that syndicated traders have targeted a market of Tk 320 billion in Bangladesh this time, by way of exporting cows on credit in exchange for importing raw hides at lower prices through unofficial channels. In return for the smuggled cows, they receive raw hides and bone, fuel, edible oil, gold, silver, cigarettes, jute. In this process, Bangladesh economy loses a huge revenue and its own prospect of exporting leather and leather products.
Although the government provides credit facilities to tanneries, hardly any credit is given to hide merchants. The businessmen depend on smugglers who advance money for procurement of hides and skins. For preservation of raw hides, salt is an essential ingredient. The government has been urged to allow duty-free import of 40,000 tons of salt in the interest of overcoming any ploy salt traders' syndicate might resort to in hiking salt price.
To carry cattle from border areas to different places, including Dhaka, the traders and ordinary people have to pay tolls at different places. It is alleged that bribe starts from the border, toll has to be paid to the police while trucks cross a district and highway police has to be paid separately. There are many other points of toll collection.
However, given that the nation spends a substantial amount on Hajj, Eid and Puja festivals, a special business spree starts for  transportation sector as a large number of people travel during the time. Â
Dr. Muhammad Abdul Mazid is a former Secretary and Chairmanm - NBR. mazid1273@hotmail.com