This Eid ul Adha, pick up some butchery skills in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The festival of sacrifice – Eid ul Adha – is nearing and the anxiety of getting a butcher at the right time worries many. Stories of people standing for hours in front of their neighbour’s house to catch hold of the butcher once he steps out are not uncommon during this time.

Aiming to give respite from such ordeals, a Hyderabad-based mutton trader has come up with a one-week course in sheep sacrifice and processing. The course will cover sacrificing the animal, skinning, cleaning and cutting the meat into small pieces.

Al Amin Meat Mart at Tolichowki will conduct the course at its shop from next week onwards. “The course is designed for common people. Training in sheep sacrifice and processing will be given to all those who enroll for it,” Al Amin Meat Mart manager Mir Arshad Ali said.

The meat store circulated a poster on social media and soon was bombarded with calls enquiring about it. “People are keen to know about it and many want to learn the skill, so that they can take up the task themselves in case they do not find a butcher in time,” Arshad said.

The fee for the course is Rs 2,000 and anyone above the age of 15 is eligible. “People have to enroll with us, and we will provide them with the sheep and necessary equipment. Experienced butchers, who have been in the profession for decades, will train them,” he said.

As a practice, Muslims sacrifice sheep, goat and cattle on Eid ul Adha – a festival that is celebrated for three consecutive days. Nevertheless, due to huge sale of cattle, the demand for butchers is also high. To cash in on this demand, butchers from neighbouring Vikarabad, Mahabubnagar, Kurnool, Sangareddy, Yadadri Bhuvanigiri and Nalgonda districts come to Hyderabad. They charge Rs 1,000 to process one sheep.