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It might sound heartbreaking for the Bangladeshi fans of both the two football superstars-Lionel Messi and Neymar-but the reality is that a namesake of each of the globally acclaimed footballers is ready to be sacrificed in Bangladesh during the upcoming Eid-ul-Adha.
Several cattle farmers named their cows after global and local superstars like Messi, Neymar as well as Bangladeshi film star Shakib Khan in order to woo the buyers ahead of the second-biggest Muslim festival.
Cattles after the name of Dipjol, a well-known villain of Dhaka film industry and comedian Hero Alam are also, among others, available in different cattle markets.
Farmers claimed that they named their cows in such a way due to their love and affection for the superstars though none of these stars, however, are available for such cheap money.
A cow covered white and black fur, which made it clearly distinct from others, was put on sale in Sadeeq Agro Firm in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area. The cow, a cross of Brahman and local species, was bought by the firm a year ago from a farmer of Kishoreganj’s Bhairab area.
The original farmer, who raised the cow, also affectionately called it Messi-two. Out of respect to the farmer, Sadeeq Agro Firm owner Imran Hossain did not change the name of the cow, which is 7.5 feet in length while 5.25 feet in height and weighed over 900 kilograms. The firm sold the five-year-old cow for Tk 10.5 lakh.
Neymar put on sale
Media is abuzz with reports of Neymar being put on sale by Jhenaidah's Kaliganj Upazila. Owner Enamul Hossain reportedly asked Tk 15 lakh for ‘Neymar'. He told the media that two years ago he bought this cow at a cost of around Tk 2 lakh, now weighing around 1,000kg.
Enamul told The Business Post that they are all Brazil supporters in the family and thus named the cow after Neymar. “I will sell the cow only if I get the price around Tk 10 lakh,” he said.
Hero Shakib and villain Dipjol in for a price war
Jobayer Islam Jisan, a young entrepreneur in Basail upazila of Tangail, has a white cow named 'Shakib Khan' in his farm. He also has a black cow named ‘Dipzol’.
Jishan’s father Shafiqul Islam told The Business Post that they named white cow after Shakib due to its cool behaviour while the black one got the name of Dipzol for being naughty always.
Shakib and Dipzol, two Friesian breed cows, weighed about 1100kg and 1150kg respectively and both are about seven feet tall. The owners are asking Tk 11 lakh for Shakib while Tk 10 lakh for Dipzol,
Hero Alam heads for Dhaka
Kamruzzaman, a resident of Battala village in Delduar upazila of Tangail, named his cow after Hero Alam. It is basically a Phrygian cow, weighing about 1200 kg and aged about 4 years, said Kamruzzaman while talking to the reporters.
Delduar livestock officer Enayet Karim told The Business Post that the owner took the cow to Dhaka on Friday hoping for a better price.
Raja, Badsha, Bahadur on sale too
Nuruzzaman and Mizanur Rahman brought four cows to Gabtali cattle market from Mithapukur in Rangpur. They named their cows Raja, Badsha, Bahadur and Shaktiman.
Nuruzzaman told The Business Post that they raised the cows domestically and their everyday feeding expenses ranged from Tk 400 to Tk 700.
