Leather industry: India

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Price of leather

Low prices before Eid-uz-Zuha

Syed Akbar, August 3, 2019: The Times of India

This Eid, destroy skin, beat leather mafia, Muslims told

Hyderabad:

This Eid-ul-Zuha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice is going to be different. Prominent Muslim religious scholars have appealed to the community across the country to destroy the skin of the sacrificed animals in protest against what they see as a deliberate move by leather traders to bring down prices of hides.

The scholars claim the traders have formed a cartel and artificially suppress prices of the hide ahead of only Eid-ul-Zuha. The objective of the protest is to create a shortage of hides in the leather industry, forcing traders to restore the original price.

The call came after a group of Muslim scholars cutting across schools of thought held a meeting in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, on July 20 and decided to destroy the skins. Leaders of the Jamiat-ul-Hind, Jamaat-e-Islami Hindi, Ahle Hadees and Tableegh Jamaat were among those present. A majority of the scholars agreed to destroy the animal hides while some objected.

According to the scholars, sheep or goat skins, which commanded a price up to Rs 400 a piece, has come down to just Rs 30 a fortnight before Eid-ul-Zuha, which falls on August 12 this year. Every Eid-ul-Zuha an estimated three crore sheep or goats are sacrificed across the country. The skin is normally donated to madrassas which sell these and use the money to run their activities.

Leather exporter Mohammad Saleem told TOI an estimated income of Rs 1,200 crore is generated through the sale of skins during Eid-ul-Zuha. The income of madrassas has come down since 2014 as the cost of skin is brought down every year prior to the festival. Madrassas now together get not more than Rs 150 crore, he said.

The protest message is being spread on social media and in mosques. Mufti Syed Mohammad Huzaifa Qasmi of Jamiat-ul-Ulema Hindi, Bhiwandi said, “Scholars on Friday told Muslims in Bhiwandi not to destroy the skin as it will affect the income of madrassas.”

Bhiwandi West former legislator Abdul Rasheed Tahir Momin told TOI that some of the leaders at the July 20 meeting have now backed out under pressure from madrassas. Fatwas were issued by Islamic seminaries in Deoband and Hyderabad against the proposed protest.

But in Hyderabad, most Muslims scholars want to defy the fatwa of Jamia Nizamia, a leading deemed Islamic university. The scholars insist that unless they protest, madrassas and charitable institutions will suffer heavily.