JAKARTA: Less spending, higher prices and fewer animal sacrifices subdued the usual festive mood as the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Adha was celebrated in many parts of the world.

In Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, Muslim worshippers were shoulder-to-shoulder in the streets and the Istiqlal Grand Mosque was filled for morning prayers Friday.

Eid Al-Adha, known as the “Feast of Sacrifice,” coincides with the final rites of the annual Hajj in Saudi Arabia. It’s a joyous occasion, for which food is a hallmark with devout Muslims buying and slaughtering animals and sharing two-thirds of the meat with the poor.

Outside Jakarta, the Jonggol Cattle Market bustled with hundreds of cattle traders hoping to sell to buyers looking for sacrificial animals. While sales increased ahead of Eid, sellers said their businesses have lost customers in recent years due to economic hardship following the COVID-19 pandemic.

A foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in 2022 to 2023 also significantly dampened the typically booming holiday trade in goats, cows and sheep, though Indonesia’s government has worked to overcome that outbreak.

Rahmat Debleng, one of the sellers in the market, said before the pandemic and the FMD outbreak, he could sell more than 100 cows two weeks ahead of Eid Al-Adha. But on the eve of the celebration this year, only 43 of his livestock were sold, and six cows are still left in his stall.

“Though the foot-and-mouth outbreak threats remain loom large, but the declining in sales mostly because of economic hardship,” Debleng said.

Jakarta city administration data recorded the number of sacrificial animals available this year at 35,133, a decline of 57 percent compared to the previous year.

The government has made next Monday an additional holiday after Friday’s festival to allow people more time with their families. Eid momentum is expected to support economic growth in Indonesia, where household consumption helps drive GDP. It contributed over 50 percent to the economy last year, though analysts expect more subdued consumer spending in 2025.

Eid expected to come Saturday in South Asia

Eid Al-Adha commemorates the Qur’anic tale of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he could carry out the sacrifice, God provided a ram as an offering. In the Christian and Jewish telling, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac.

South Asian countries like India and Bangladesh will celebrate Eid Al-Adha on Saturday. Ahead of the festival, many Muslims in the region were turning to livestock markets to buy and sell millions of animals for sacrifice.

In New Delhi, sellers were busy tending to their animals at these markets, while potential buyers negotiated prices with them.

Mohammad Ali Qureshi, one of the sellers, said this year his goats were fetching as high as $640, some $60 more than the last year.

“Earlier, the sale of goats was slow, but now the market is good. Prices are on the higher side,” Ali said.

Preparations for the festival were also peaking in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where many Muslims dye sheep and goats in henna before they are sacrificed.

“We are following the tradition of Prophet Ibrahim,” said Riyaz Wani, a resident in Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar, as his family applied henna on a sheep they plan to sacrifice.

BUKAVU: Tens of thousands of secondary school students sat for state exams in rebel-held eastern Congo this week, a complicated logistical feat requiring rare cooperation between the government and M23 rebels.
The Rwanda-backed insurgents seized eastern Congo’s two largest cities in an offensive earlier this year and are now trying to show they can govern. African leaders along with Washington and Doha are meanwhile trying to broker a peace deal that would put an end to a conflict with roots in the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago.
The state exams, administered across the sprawling central African country for students hoping to go to university, began on Monday and will continue through mid-June.
Administering them throughout the east of Democratic Republic of Congo required having education officials personally escort documents and other materials from the capital Kinshasa into M23-held cities and towns.
“We were among those who went to Kinshasa to collect the items,” said Jean-Marie Mwayesi, an education official in South Kivu province, where M23 claims considerable territory.
“Thanks to the combined efforts of our teams and partners, all 111 centers we cover have been served.”
President Felix Tshisekedi’s government announced last month it was waiving exam fees — which normally exceed $40 — for students in North and South Kivu provinces, citing insecurity.
While M23 has previously said it seeks the ouster of Tshisekedi’s government, the group’s leader Bertrand Bisimwa told Reuters that it still recognized Kinshasa as the administrator of national exams.
“Our presence in the eastern part of our country does not make this a separate country,” Bisimwa said.
“The education of our children is apolitical. It must be protected against any political divergence because we all work for the interest and well-being of our children.”
Human rights groups have repeatedly accused M23 of executing civilians including children — allegations the group has denied.
Exauce Katete was among the students who sat for exams at a school in the South Kivu regional capital Bukavu, which fell under M23 control in February and where insecurity including vigilante violence has increased since then.
“Yes, security is there. I can still see a few people outside, responsible for keeping us safe. There are no disturbances, no noise, everything is going well,” Katete said, referring to plainclothes officers positioned by M23 outside the school.
Mwayesi, the local education official, said that of 44,000 students who registered in his zone, nearly 42,000 showed up, speculating that the remainder may have been displaced by fighting.