Eid-eve shopping subdued, but festivities on in Kashmir valley

Srinagar, June 15

Even when markets had more than usual presence of shoppers in Srinagar and other cities and towns of Kashmir on the eve of the holiest Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Azha on Saturday, the traditional high-pitch buying and selling has not been witnessed this time.

The sacrificial animal markets in the Eidgah area of Srinagar and other places also witnessed low-key business activity. The most sought-after items were bakery, poultry, vegetables, garment, toy and firecracker shops as people were seen buying things for the ensuing Eid festival that falls on Monday. Traffic movement was more than usual on streets and highways of Srinagar and other districts of the Valley as locals came out to buy essentials of life in big or small ways to celebrate the holy festival.

There was a lot of haggling going on between the buyers and the sellers in the animal markets of the Valley with many sellers saying they were not even getting the returns for their effort to tender their flocks of goats and sheep. Mushtaq Bijard, an animal trader said he had got the flock of goats and sheep from Rajouri district of Jammu division and here he was struggling to sell his flock.

“I am afraid that I might have to take most of the flock back to Rajouri for want of getting enough buyers. That would incur further expenditure because the buyers are not offering the right price that would meet my requirement,” Bijard said.

Despite all low-key market activity on Saturday, the bakery shops were still doing brisk business. Locals say they can’t avoid buying bakery items like cakes, pastries and cookies on Eid eve since children always look forward to these edibles around the Eid festival.