Part a century prior to Thomas Moore’s Oriental romance, Lalla Rookh (1817), extolled the wonderful thing about Kashmir as a paradise on earth to the West, its handicraft, particularly textiles and shawls, had conquered Eu capitals. Everybody was once bewitched via Pashmina and Shahtoosh shawls—Napoleon gave them to empress Josephine and Queen Victoria was once a lifelong devotee. Gentle and cushy, heat and woven in beautiful patterns and designs, Kashmiri shawls was synonymous with the luxurious and luxury of the best wool: ‘Cashmere’. Shawls had been the top class articles from Kashmir, however intricately carved walnut picket, willow wicker craft and carpets had been additionally prized.
Unfold alongside the banks of the Jhelum, Srinagar has lengthy been house to Kashmir’s best artisans who operated out of karkhanas (workshops) in residential homes alongside the slender lanes of the outdated town. Sadly, descendants of the ones artisans who left an indelible mark on global model at the moment are being compelled to surrender their conventional craft and shift to unusual jobs, for all they have got to turn for generations of trustworthy paintings is penury.
The artwork of weaving Pashmina is intricate and time-consuming, requiring professional artisans who paintings on thread as skinny as 10-16 microns— thinner than human hair
In Eidgah Narwara in Srinagar, artisans from some 400 karkhanas as soon as educated and labored in each and every section of Kashmiri craft, starting from weaving to designing of shawls. From a naqqash (dressmaker) to an artisan, the world was once a hive of ability. Until a couple of many years again, citizens would have their kids practice of their ancestors’ footsteps, as wages had been respectable. Ahtisham Hussain joined a handloom workshop after quitting faculty in 1989. To begin with, he would weave shawls on a handloom out of the subtle and cushy yarn of the arena’s best and costliest wool, Shahtoosh. Later, after industry in Shahtoosh was once banned, he used the Pashmina wool.
Ahtisham Hussain deserted the positive artwork of weaving pashminas. He now works at a sanitary warehouse; (Photograph: Yasir Iqbal)
The artwork of weaving Shahtoosh or Pashmina is intricate and time-consuming, requiring professional artisans who need to paintings on thread as skinny as 10 microns to 16 microns—a lot thinner than a strand of human hair (70 microns). Procured from the underfur of the high-altitude Chiru antelope discovered within the Tibetan plateau, Shahtoosh was once all the time exorbitantly priced, one thing best the plutocracy may just have the funds for.
However Chirus are endangered animals and Shahtoosh industry was once banned globally in 1975 beneath the Conference on World Industry in Endangered Species (CITES), to which India is a signatory. The antelope could also be indexed in Agenda I of India’s Natural world (Coverage) Act. An to begin with reluctant J&Okay executive led via Farooq Abdullah prolonged the ban in 2000, hitting the livelihood of about 15,000 other people. In 2017, a parliamentary panel led via Congress MP Renuka Chowdhury beneficial lifting the ban, suggesting as an alternative the “conservation and breeding of chiru goats”, with a purpose to keep the livelihood of Shahtoosh weavers.
Rauf Ahmad Qureshi works on a loom at his space in Srinagar; (Photograph: Yasir Iqbal)
Pashmina wool is sourced from the Changthang goats in Ladakh. From uncooked wool to a completed scarf is a procedure as labour-intensive because it’s skilful: involving dehairing, scouring, bleaching, spinning, weaving, dyeing, completing, cleansing and embroidery. An unique Pashmina fetches 1000’s of bucks within the world marketplace.
But, deplorably, the very males who toil unceasingly to create those achingly stunning items are underpaid, stuck in a cycle of poverty and increasingly more pushed to go away the career. In consequence, crafts honed over centuries are inching against extinction. Hussain, who’s 52-years-old and a father of 3, regrets taking over the craft. “My kids would weep after they left for college as a result of I may just no longer have the funds for a packet of biscuits or snacks for them,” he says. Hussain has now give up the industry and signed up as a salesperson at a sanitaryware store. As he runs his palms via a salt-and-pepper beard, he turns out a content material guy—he now earns thrice up to he did making shawls.
Consistent with Hussain, his craft as a weaver introduced him best Rs 300, whilst unskilled labourers earn above Rs 700 an afternoon and get social safety advantages. “As a weaverI may just no longer have the funds for my kids’s tuition charges. Others become profitable out of our laborious paintings, whilst we turn out to be poorer via the day.” Confronted with an irremediable state of affairs, artisans steer clear of passing their talents to their offspring. Many, like Hussain, may not even let their kids set eyes at the looms that when sustained their households.
An respectable report cites that manufacturing of home made carpets, kani shawls, Khatamband woodwork, namda rugs, papier mache items and walnut picket carving is dealing with an acute manpower crunch. On the other hand, since Kashmir handicrafts is an unorganised sector, correct knowledge about artisans quitting the field is difficult to return via. Prof Imtiyaz-ul-Haq, head of the economics division at Kashmir College, explains that Kashmir is a labour poor financial system and virtually 800,000 migrant staff come right here for paintings once a year. Because of this, labour wages have shot up, leading to low-paid professional artisans quitting their trades and taking over menial jobs, equivalent to development labour. This has led to a decline in manufacturing and export of Kashmiri handicrafts.
As an example, nonagenarian Ghulam Mohammad and his 4 sons did walnut carving, however no longer a unmarried member of the following era have taken up the task. As an alternative, they have got moved to the West Asia to paintings and at the moment are prompting their fathers to give up the craft. “Our kids weren’t prepared to permit us to hold on with our karkhana,” says Zahoor Ahmad, mentioning the cause of quitting the industry. But even so low wages, Hussain attributes the secure attenuation to a ‘sluggish poisoning’—eye issues and orthopaedic problems are not unusual afflictions amongst weavers and embroiderers. “This industry sucks the blood of craftsmen, however all we get is exploitation,” he says.
Whilst Europe continues to be enamoured of Kashmiri handicraft, it additionally has a big marketplace in West Asia and China. Over 900,000 persons are related to the industry, together with 280,000 artisans registered with the federal government’s handicrafts and handlooms division—66,000 are weavers, the remainder are engaged in walnut picket carving, papier mache craft, crewel embroidery and different trades. However right here, too, there may be drawing near gloom—annual industry has fallen steeply, with overseas exports dwindling prior to now decade. From just about Rs 1,700 crore in 2013, annual exports have dipped to Rs 563 crore in 2021. Whilst officers blame the pandemic for the precipitous drop, exporters and artisans level to a extra insidious foe: machine-made professionalducts bought as ‘authentic’ Kashmir handicrafts. Thus, an ersatz ‘Pashmina scarf’ made on a mechanical device and priced at Rs 3,000 is bought to unsuspecting shoppers, devaluing the Pashmina emblem. Consistent with businessmen, in a foreign country shoppers now take a look at the professionalduct in laboratories for genuineness. Mill-made merchandise have additionally put many craftsmen—from girls who would convert fibres into positive yarn on a charkha (spinning wheel) to weavers—out of jobs.
Rauf Ahmad Qureshi, founder, Kashmir Pashmina Karigar Union, who nonetheless makes use of girls staff for generating home made shawls, says machines have ruined their industry. “One mechanical device spindle spins 200 grams of Pashmina fibre an afternoon or extra, with 10-20 in line with cent nylon. Its yarn is reasonable, costing Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000 a kg,” he says. However the thread/ yarn comprised of the wool on a conventional charkha, says Qureshi, is 100 in line with cent natural and priced at Rs 40,000-50,000 a kg. “The yarn produced on spinners is woven on energy looms with a capability to make 100 shawls an afternoon. It’s bought as ‘Kashmir Pashmina’, threatening our legacy. They must have a machine-made label to steer clear of dishonest shoppers,” he says. The union has been asking government to close unlawful machines and to assist advertise nationwide and world consciousness of the GI (Geographical Indication) tag that was once secured for Pashmina merchandise in 2008.
Since a GI tag identifies a novel manufactured from a area, its enforcement is anticipated to weed out counterfeits. The goods will likely be examined in a laboratory and authentic pieces will likely be labelled with a Radio Frequency Id (RFID) tag. Seven Kashmir handicrafts have secured a GI, together with Pashmina, walnut picket carving, papier mache craft, sozni craft, kani scarf, carpets and Khatamband.
Rauf Wadera, advisor with Tahafuzz, an organisation representing Kashmiri artisans, says the popularity has enabled better access into international markets. However now, the important thing worry must be offering artisans with social and financial safety. “A separate labour coverage coverage must be there to make sure minimal wages for artisans,” he says. “A benevolent fund for contingency wishes, medical health insurance, provision for kids’s training and provide of uncooked fabrics at an even value also are wanted.”
President of the Kashmir Chamber of Trade and Business (KCCI) Sheikh Ashiq was once among Kashmiri trade leaders who met High Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on April 5. He submitted a memorandum in the hunt for exemption of taxes on all handicraft merchandise. His proposals come with putting in particular manufacturing centres to push the trade against being an organised sector and thus support the lot of artisans.
Tariq Ahmad Zargar, director, handicrafts and handlooms Kashmir, says artisans are benefitting from the Karkhandar scheme, introduced in 2021, that targets to restore languishing crafts via making improvements to artisans’ talents and inculcating a spirit of entrepreneurship in them. The federal government has incentivised the programme via providing Rs 2,000 a month to each and every trainee artisan. Later, each and every certified artisan is paid Rs 50,000 in two instalments. “We’re operating on branding, packaging and creation of recent designs for world marketplace necessities. But even so, we’re focusing on get entry to to new markets, particularly america, which stays untapped,” says Zargar.
Confidently, the scheme would prevent probably the most global’s best craftsmen from being compelled to relinquish their industry because of sheer need. n