J&K government’s U-turn on machine-made craft crackdown upsets handicraft artisans

SRINAGAR: J&K govt’s decision to stop the crackdown on machine-made crafts filling handicraft showrooms and instead allow them under a separate category has not gone down well with the handicraft artisans, many of whom called it “betrayal and backstabbing”.On July 25, department of handicrafts and handloom issued notices to Valley-based showrooms, asking them to remove machine-made products within seven days or face blacklisting and deregistration for unfair trade practices. The order followed complaints that machine-made carpets were being sold as authentic Kashmiri hand-woven carpets to tourists.CM Omar Abdullah had directed strict action against those misbranding the products.

However, on Wednesday, the UT govt decided to allow the machine-made products under a separate category. The move has come at a time when Kashmir’s handicraft industry is facing one of its toughest phases.Protesting the U-turn, former Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) president Rouf Ahmad Punjabi said, “For Kashmiri handicrafts to survive and for artisans to sustain their livelihoods, machine-made items must be discarded altogether.

It might look harsh initially, but it will have long-term benefits for the trade and for Kashmir.”Farooq Ahmad, a Pashmina artisan, said the rise of machine-made carpets and shawls has already hurt livelihoods. “There are around 4 lakh artisans registered with the govt. If machine-made shawls and carpets are allowed in Kashmir, it will make us jobless. If someone wants to buy an Iranian or Turkish carpet, he can do that in Delhi.

Tourists come here for Kashmiri handicrafts, not machines.”Rafiq Ahmad Sofi, who heads Tafuz, an organization promoting traditional knowledge, said the problem cannot be solved simply by labelling. “Even if shops label items as machine-made, many will still pass them off as handicrafts. You now have factories in the Valley producing machine-made goods and exporting them as handicrafts,” he said.