subject: Decline Of Kashmiri Pashmina Industry [print this page] The market share percentage of indigenous, hand woven Kashmiri shawls is narrowing. Duplicate shawls made mainly in many parts of Punjab especially Amritsar are openly being tagged and sold as original Kashmiri shawls in enormous showrooms across the valley and outside the state.
The Special Kani shawl weavers, who have long been associated with the Kani shawl weaving industry for many centuries, say that under the presence of such unjust market competition it is really getting too much difficult for them to sustain and survive on this handicraft. All of them are blaming the government for sanctioning such kind of small factories where such kind of duplicate shawls and scarves are manufactured in machines brought from Amritsar, and then sold in the market at Original Costs.
The Kashmiri shawl had long been present in various forms from the very early times. It used to serve as a protective garment not only for the luxury loving rich people but also for the normal common people.
"Many historians have thoroughly and extensively worked on Kashmiri Shawl, but the exact start of one may say the real beginning of Kani Shawl industry is still doubtful," say research scholars from Center for Studies in Science Policy, JNU New Delhi.
If one debates over the making of Kani Shawls, it turns out to be that it is made by a unique style of weaving. Actually the local artisans of Kashmir who over a long period of time developed this great technique of weaving using bobbins. Now the local artisans also developed a unique style of protecting this intellect and this they call as Taleem - The teachings.
On the edge boundaries or outskirts of Srinagar, in Kanihama, Batpora, and many other villages, majority of people are connected with Kani Shawl weaving work. Usually Weavers work on many or multiple looms placed inside of their houses. And the verdict of lot of these Kani shawl weavers is that the duplicate shawls are first manufactured in Amritsar, and are then sold off in Kashmir showrooms and tagged as original Kani shawls. The shawl weavers admit that there are around 10 showrooms around the outskirts of Srinagar alone that openly sell all kinds duplicate Kashmiri shawls, including the Pashmina shawls.
Weaves do blame the government of the J&K state for the downfall of Kashmiri shawl industry. As the government have set up many useless schemes, which are totally irrelevant. As per the views of the weavers they feel that this industry should be democratized, and the monopoly of all the exports should be destroyed and the ownership issues in this industry needs to be resolved with immediate effect. There's a need to demystify this kind of whole technique and have a solid protection for the intellectual property rights. Weavers feel that they need to be empowered. There is still scope for saving the weavers and the original kashmiri pashmina industry provided J&K Government take some real steps and implement some stringent laws for the same.
This article is produced by KashmirStorz (Manufacturer and Supplier of Pashmina Shawls and Scarves) - a pioneer organization engaged in manufacturing and exporting varied products directly from the craftsmanship of Kashmir valley.
