In the three days of Eid-ul-Azha, the demand for butchers shoots up causing hundreds to switch trades to make a quick buck.
Many from around the country travel to Dhaka to spend the days butchering the huge number cattle slaughtered in the city marking the second largest religious festival of the Muslims.
During the three days of Eid-ul-Azha, this breed of professionals is poised to make more money than any other ancillary businesses that benefit from a seasonal boost.
Zahirul Islam, who came from Panchagarh, with his four others, was found waiting at the entrance of the government staff quarter at Dhaka’s Kalabagan.
“We have already locked contracts to butcher four cows,” he said while speaking to Bangla Tribune early morning on Wednesday.
Chan Mia has travelled from Dinajpur. “I came with a group of 20 men from our village. We hope to start back for Dinajpur by the end of the day.”
Maminul Haque, who hails from Jamalpur but runs a small business based at Dhaka’s Ashulia, switches trade during this part of the year.
He runs two four-strong teams each led by a professional butcher, who have travelled from Jamalpur.
“We come to the city every year the night before Eid and head back home the next afternoon to spend the remaining of the day with friends and families,” he told Bangla Tribune.
Likewise the professional butchers, these seasonal ones also charge a percentage of the cattle’s price, but at a lower rate something between 10 and 15 percent.
A group of seasonal butchers from Jamalpur working at the Kalabagan say they charge 10 percent of the cattle’s price.
The rate is more or less similar across Dhaka. In areas like, Khilgaon, Malibagh, Rampura and Badda it’s between Tk 100 and 200 per Tk 1,000 of the cattle’s price while Tk 200 to 300 in Gulshan and Bashundhara area and butchers at Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi and Hazaribag charge Tk 150-250.
Skilled butchers said they would be able to earn more than Tk 50,000 on the occasion and the seasonal ones Tk 10,000 to Tk 20,000, as they were getting booked for preparing 5-8 cattle each during the three days.
It takes skilled butchers to process a whole cow within three to three-and-half hours while seasonal ones take an hour or two more.
Murad, a butcher based at Mohammadpur’s Town Hall market told Bangla Tribune, “Most of the butchers are booked 15 days before the Eid.”