Bateshwar’s animal traders hit hard by gaurakshaks, demonetisation
Changing agricultural practices — the use of tractors instead of bullocks for tilling the fields; vehicles instead of horses and camels for transportation, — have contributed to the drop in demand for animals
Dust from the ravines of Chambal rises up in flurries. At the end of the month-long animal fair at Bateshwar, 70 kilometres from Agra in Bah district, sombre breeders sit under makeshift tents, their horses, ponies and camels tethered nearby. Dogged by cow vigilantes, demonetisation and the general reduction in the use of animals in agriculture, trade at one of India’s largest and oldest animal fairs has hit an all-time low this year.
“Till about five years ago, the fair used to do great business,” says Baba, a local horse breeder who has brought four mares to sell here. “About five years ago, the gaurakshaks (cow protectors) all but finished the cattle trade here, and today, the demonetisation of ~500 and ~1,000 notes has led to such poor pickings that many of us wonder if it will be worth it to return to this fair next year.”
His assertions are borne out by figures released by the Agra Zila Parishad, which manages the fair. In 2013, it earned ~58 lakh in commissions from sales during the fair (~220 for cattle and ~440 for camels and horses). This year, this number has dropped to ~32 Lakh.
It is quite a comedown for the Bateshwar Fair, which is estimated to have started during the time of the Mauryan empire (around 300BC). Till about thirty years ago, it spanned an area of around 25 square kilometres and catered to over 200 villages of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
In the British era, it was the most important cultural and trade event in the region and showcased the best in livestock, with as many as 25,000 horses on display at a time. “As children, we used to walk eight to nine kilometres just to get to the fair, as it was too crowded with people and animals for vehicles to pass though,” says Suresh Chand Yadav, Apar Mukhya Adhikari, Agra Zila Parishad, the apex organiser of the fair.
“Traders brought foodgrain, handicrafts and more to the fair, and most locals did their entire year’s shopping here.” In the last decade, however, much has changed. “Today, the fair has become a fraction of its original size, and lasts for a shorter duration,” says Ram Pratap Singh of the Chambal Conservation Foundation, who has been observing the fair for decades.
Changing agricultural practices — the use of tractors instead of bullocks for tilling the fields; vehicles instead of horses and camels for transportation, et cetera — have contributed to this drop in demand for animals. However, it has been the right-wing vigilantes that have rung a veritable death knell over the Bateshwar Fair.
Commissions from the sale of cattle have dropped to about ~6 lakh this year, from over ~30 lakh five years ago. Even the camel trade was afflicted by similar problems this year.
“This year, during the week after Diwali, a rumour that people were buying camels for slaughter began circulating in the fair,” says Hanwant Singh, a camel breeder. “Trade suddenly dried up.” Over the last few years, cow vigilantes have been stopping and searching trucks carrying cattle outside the fair. Many allege that these unauthorised checks are with tacit connivance of the police.
Another story doing the rounds in the fair is that last year, vigilantes held up a cattle truck for a couple of days, and dozens of cattle died for the want of water and food. “Who wants that kind of trouble?” he asks. “It’s no wonder that few big buyers come to Bateshwar anymore.”
Interestingly, the breeders themselves seem largely unconcerned about the eventual fate of the animals they sell.“I am just a poor man who wants to recover the amount I’ve spent breeding and rearing my horses,” says Baba, a horse breeder. “Once sold, they belong to their new masters who can do what they like with them. Who are the gaurakhsaks to destroy our business?”
Demonetisation has been the final nail in Bateshwar Fair’s coffin this year. Officials at the Zila Parishad aver that the apex body has spent almost double of what it has earned in the fair this year. Several traders who set up stalls selling textiles, handicrafts, food and more, allege that they have not been able to recover their investment this year, let alone book profits.
Baba and Singh are just two of the many small scale animal breeders who may not return to the Bateshwar Fair next year. Baba has sold none of his horses; Singh has not sold a single camel. Singh was planning to head to Pushkar Fair with his camels, but is now just going home. “What’s the point of going to yet another fair where everyone has empty pockets?” he asks. At this rate, it will not be long before the Bateshwar Fair will completely fade into oblivion, taking centuries of history and tradition with it.