Srinagar: Two days ahead of the Eid-ul-Adha festival, buyers looking for sacrificial animals thronged Srinagar markets and other cities and towns of Kashmir as Eid shopping picked up the pace on Friday.
Makeshift sacrificial animal markets have come up at the Edgah ground in Srinagar city, at different other places in the downtown city, and elsewhere in the Valley.
Buyers were seen haggling while the sellers demanded exorbitant rates for their animals.
Sellers from Rajouri, Poonch, and even Delhi and Rajasthan have brought in their flocks of sheep and goats to sell in the Valley.
Rates fixed for the sacrificial animals by the authorities bothered neither the sellers nor the buyers as no uniformity in rates were noticed between different markets selling these animals.
Muslims all over the world offer animal sacrifices on Eid-ul-Adha to commemorate the great sacrifice offered by Prophet Ibrahim to please Allah.
Ibrahim offered to sacrifice his son, Ismail to please Allah.
Pleased with the devotion of Ibrahim, Allah ordered that a sheep from Heaven should replace Ismail under the slaughtering knife of the father.
The joy that followed Allah’s sparing of Ismail’s life is celebrated as Eid-ul-Adha by Muslims.
Children accompanied their parents to buy firecrackers, toys, and new clothes. Meat shops did not have many buyers as people were seen busy buying alive animals for sacrifice.
Bakery shops, especially the ones known for good quality bakery items, had their queues of buyers while fewer buyers chose to buy bakery items from makeshift bakeries.
Mobile phones and other electronic gadget shops also witnessed more than the usual number of buyers as youth went shopping at these places.
There was no shortage of essential supplies anywhere in Kashmir on Eid eve as authorities had ensured adequate supplies of essential items including petroleum products, cooking gas, and other items.
The traffic police were seen taking a lenient view of shopkeepers spreading their merchandise onto the pedestrian malls and motorists parking their vehicles in the wrong places.
“After all, Eid comes once and we have to be lenient for a while to accommodate the rush of sellers and buyers at different places”, said a senior officer of the traffic department.
Despite being less harsh on violators, traffic cops were seen trying their best to ensure the free movement of vehicles at different places in Srinagar city.
Special arrangements for security and sanitation have been made at different Eidgahs in the Valley where devotees will offer congregational Eid prayers on Sunday.
