Unrest pushes mutton off Kashmir menu

In the curfew-bound Kashmir, mutton has gone off the menu. With the region reeling under shutdowns and restrictions for the past 46 days, the import of mutton has come down from a whopping 95 truckloads to bare three per day as the people now prefer vegetables over mutton.
Last July was the peak of the marriage season that usually involves abundant mutton consumption. However, it has trickled down to merely three per cent due to curfew, restrictions and shutdowns. Owing to the prevailing unrest, scores of marriages, which were scheduled for this season, have either been cancelled or scaled down, which has led minimum import of mutton.
According to a government report, the total requirement of mutton during 2012-13 in Jammu and Kashmir was estimated to be 560 lakh kg of which 248 lakh kg was imported from other states. Owing to non-vegetarian food habits of Kashmiris, the Valley alone consumes 253 lakh kg of mutton per annum, excluding beef, as per the government figures.
For the regular consumers, mutton has not been at the top of the menu due its low availability. “More than 70 per cent of consumers have opted not to prefer purchase mutton under prevailing circumstances,” said Shabir Ahmad, a mutton dealer from Nawpora, the centre of mutton distribution in the city. During the past one and a half months, he has managed to sell mutton from his shop in Rajbagh for not more than seven days that too at irregular intervals.
The reasons for the irregularity are restrictions imposed by the police and shutdowns called by the separatists. There have also been curbs on the movement of trucks carrying the livestock and other things along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. “It has taken three days for a truckload to cover a distance of less than 10 km from the bypass to Nawpora due to the restrictions,” he said.
Every day 95 truckloads (each carrying around 175 sheep) for mutton consumption were being transported from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, but the number has gone down to only three, said Shabir Ahmad.
The mutton consumption has also witnessed a marked decline due to the cut-down on marriage feasts in this peak season due to the law and order situation. Either the marriage feasts have been cancelled with simple ‘nikah’ ceremonies, or marriages have been postponed till the restoration of peace or next season.
“We had a big feast on the marriage of my brother. But keeping in view the prevailing circumstances, we have now decided to scale it down and go for a simple function. The order with mutton dealer stands cancelled,” said a city resident, whose brother’s marriage is scheduled in September.

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