The quantity of rawhide appears to mark a rise by 20-25 per cent here this time compared to previous years due to an uptrend in buying sacrificial animals by Muslim political leaders as they want to kill two birds with one stone — performing Eid-ul-Azha ritual and electioneering with hosting feasts. During visits to different cattle markets, both cattle buyers and traders have told the news agency that the sale of sacrificial animals has gone up in the southwestern district this year ahead of the upcoming general election scheduled to be held by January 24, 2014.
Probable candidates of different political parties are buying more sacrificial animals this time than they did in the past in a bid to woo voters by hosting feasts and distributing meat among the poor keeping in mind the upcoming polls in mind.
Meanwhile, rawhide traders here have fixed a target for purchasing hides at Tk 20 crore this season.
Describing the problems they are now facing, rawhide traders said they are being denied soft term bank loans.
They said a total of 20 permanent rawhide traders in the district are now incurring losses due to the huge emergence of seasonal traders.
Amid the bright prospect of having higher quantity of rawhide, traders here apprehend that the valuable animal skins are likely to be smuggled out into India unless a proper preventive measure is taken as brokers from the neighbouring country have already made arrangements to do so in the bordering southern districts.
Golam Kibria, a rawhide trader, said Indian brokers, have already paid money in advance to the people concerned in the bordering areas to smuggle rawhide.
Some rawhide traders also voiced dissatisfaction over the procurement rate of rawhide fixed by the Bangladesh Tanners Association.
They termed it ‘whimsical and irrational’ and said it would be very difficult to buy and sell rawhide of cow at Tk 75-80, goat at Tk 50-55 and buffalo Tk 40-45 per square feet.
-With New Age input
