Afghan war halts donkey tradition
For what is believed to be first time in 500 years, there are no donkeys from Kabul being sold at India annual fair
One of the more unlikely effects of the war in Afghanistan is the breaking of a 500-year-old tradition of a donkey sale in Jaipur in India.
The Hindustan Times reports that donkeys, their owners and traders from Kabul have always been regulars at the fair, but this year there is not a single visitor from Afghanistan.
The paper quotes one of the organisers of the fair, Bhagwat Singh Rajawat, as saying: “Donkeys bred in Afghanistan and Lahore have always been in great demand at the fair.
“Traders would buy these donkey in Kabul, Lahore and north-west India and bring them down to the fair in the hope of a good bargain.
“Donkeys bred in Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan are said to be the finest.
“Although the number of donkey from Afghanistan has declined gradually over the years, this is perhaps the first time in the 500-year-old history of this fair that not a single Afghan-bred donkey is participating.”
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