Cultural sports: Two-day camel wrestling tournament ends

Winner gets Rs200,000, while runner up leaves empty handed.

DERA GHAZI KHAN: A two-day camel wrestling competition ended here on Sunday. The festival, organised every year by local camel owners, serves as a platform for them to display fighting skills of their camels taught over years.

Muneer Ahmed, owner of the winning camel, Macheeda, left with Rs200,000 in prize money. Ahmed, a resident of Sadiquabad, said he had been training the camel for four years.

He told The Express Tribune that keeping a camel was an expensive hobby. “But today, my hard work has shown results,” a jubilant Ahmed said.

Macheeda defeated Tufaan in the final round after beating Heera in the semi finals.

Tufaan’s owner, Dilbar Hussain, from Dera Ghazi Khan said that he was proud that his camel had made it to the finals. He, however, said that he will work harder on his camel to win next year. He said teaching camels wrestling holds was not easy and involved a lot of patience and skill.

The prize money is set by the organisers, who also accept bets on potential winners from the spectators.

Hussain, however, complained that runners-up were not awarded any prize or cash.

Drum beat in the background as competition rounds progress.

Rahim, the owner of one of the participating camels said, a round could last for as little as two minutes and as long as 20 minutes, depending on when a camel fell to the ground. “Camel fight is one of the most liked cultural sports in southern Punjab,” he said.

Macheeda’s owner Ahmed said that sometimes the fights could be gory.

“But usually camel fights are not bloody, as the winner is announced as soon as one of the camel falls down,” he said.

He said this year was lucky for his camel, who he said, did not get a single scratch.

The festival was held at the Railways Ground near Circuit House. As many as 22 camels participated in the competition.

They had been brought from more than 10 district including Rahim Yar Khan, Sadiquabad, Rajanpur, Fazilpur, Layyah, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan. The entry ticket for the festival was Rs200.

Banners proclaiming former chief minister Dost Mohammad Khan Khosa and PML-N MNA Saifuddin Khan Khosa as the patrons in chief hung in various parts of the ground.

Police were deployed to manage security and avoid any untoward incident.

Rana Iqbal, the Gaddai station house officer, told The Express Tribune that the event had been organised with legal permission from the police. He said police was directed to ensure that the tournament ended within scheduled time.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2012.