Stop cattle smuggling but take steps also to bring down their price
The allegation is serious. Though there is a ban on cattle import, cows, oxen and bulls are being smuggled into Bangladesh from Myanmar and India with the help of local political leaders and bribing the Border Guard Bangladesh members. According to a report yesterday, smugglers allegedly forged a home ministry order to bring cattle into the country. The reality is there is no control on the border ahead of this Eid.
The report further says that in the hilly areas of Naikhongchhori and Bandarban, hundreds of cows, oxen and bulls are coming from Myanmar every day, and the smugglers getting away with their illegal act by paying just Tk 100 to men from the upazila parishad for each animal. This is preposterous despite the fact there are the BGB and law enforcing agencies in these places.
While it has been reported that the BGB men are receiving a portion of this money, presumably the law enforcing agencies are also having their share because it is difficult to believe, the cattle are being smuggled into the country without their knowledge.
Like from Myanmar, cattle are also entering Bangladesh from India, reportedly through the borders in Cumilla, Mymensingh, Chapainawabganj, and Sylhet. For a long time the local farmers who raise cattle to make a hefty business on the occasion of Eid have been urging the authorities to stop smuggling so that they get a good price.
Though we unequivocally say that cattle smuggling must be stopped, at the same time we also point out that since the ban was enforced especially by India, price of beef – cattle – has shot up in Bangladesh despite the fact that after a short period of crisis, in production of cattle Bangladesh has achieved self sufficiency.
A few days ago, the government claimed that there are more cattle in the country than the demand for Eid-ul-Azha. That the local farmers – or middlemen – are taking opportunities of the ban and fleecing the consumers of this there is no doubt. The recent fall of onion price after the government allowed the import of the commodity is a case in point in this regard.
Therefore, it is not only necessary to stop smuggling of cattle, it is also important to oversee the actual cost of raising cattle at the farmers’ level and their price at the market – both in the form of live cattle as well as beef – so that consumers do not have to pay more than their reasonable price.
