Dodhara Chandni (Kanchanpur), October 10: Farmers of Dadeldhura who reached Mahendranagar for sale of goats from Madhes inside Dadeldhura have complained that are not being sold.
Dev Dhami, who reached Mahendranagar on foot from Parshuram Municipality-8 Jogbudha in Dadeldhura, said that he was disappointed after Khasiboka was not sold even during the festival. “The income from the sale of khasiboka (male goats) used to be considered as a festival and from this used to earn a living throughout the year”, he said. Dhami says that although he reaches Mahendranagar every year during Dasain for the sale of khasiboka, the situation is not encouraging this year compared to the past. “We form a group of seven to eight people and come here every year during Dasain with khasiboka, so far there is no good sign. Let’s see if anything happens in the rest of the day!”, he said further.
Gore Dhami from Jogbudha said that he has been making a living by rearing goats, but this time he was disappointed that there was no business as expected. “Goat breeding is the source of income here. If it is not sold even during the festival, it will be difficult to meet the household expenses”, he said, “The weight of the khasiboka will decrease by the time it reaches here from home. He had walked for two days and brought 50 khasiboka to Mahendranagar.
The problem of Dilim Ram Lohar of Jogbudha is similar. He lamented that there was no business like in the past even for three days after coming to Mahendranagar. “We came to Mahendranagar to sell Khasiboka in a group from Jogbudha. I have been here for three days and only two have been sold. Well! What will happen in the rest of the day!” He expressed doubt.
On sale goats (khasiboka) stolen in Dhangadi
Traders from Chure Rural Municipality in the hilly area of Kailali have also come down to Dhangadhi to sell Khasiboka. Jeevan Thapa Magar, a Khasiboka trader of Chure Rural Municipality-1, said that for Dashain, he had brought Dhangadhi for sale of Khasiboka from Saila and Babaina in Chure, a hilly area of Kailali.
He informed that every year on the occasion of Dashain, Khasiboka is brought here from the hilly area of Kailali, but this year only few compared last year. “For about 22 years, we used to bring more than 700 khasiboka from Chure Nigali, Khairala, Kale Khola and other places to bring Dhangadi and sell them, but this time we brought only 60 khasiboka here, and there is no business as expected”, Thapa said. The situation used to be, nowadays even if we wait all day, it is difficult to sell even 10-12.” According to Durga Arkhali of Churegaupalika-5 of Kailali, their business is not good as the tradition of rearing two or four goats in each house and offering sacrifices is decreasing compared to earlier.
Local leader Sher Bahadur Bista also says that there may be a decrease in the Khasiboka business because family members are not together due to reasons such as studies, jobs and foreign employment, and the feeling that killing animals should not be done is developing. He said that in the Kalika temple near his house, some time ago, more than a thousand goats were sacrificed on the Ashtami and Navami days of Dashain, and in recent years, that number has been decreasing. Live Khasiboka is being sold here at the rate of 500 rupees per kilogram.
