Farooq finally bans shahtoosh in State

The legendary "toosh" shawls are made from the hair of the Tibetan antelope or chiru, an endangered species found in the mountains of Ladakh and the Indo-Chinese border. Famous for being "fine enough to pass through a wedding ring", shahtoosh shawls command prices ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh or more, with the prices soaring even higher in the international market.

But the indiscriminate hunting of the chiru has resulted in a sharp dwindling of their numbers. Wildlife experts have long been pressing for a ban on the manufacture of shahtoosh.

Significantly, Abdullah’s statement was made in the presence of the visiting Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Maneka Gandhi, with whom he has had a running battle over imposing a ban on the shahtoosh trade in the State.

While the Central Government had imposed a ban on the hunting and trade in shahtoosh in the early ’90s, Jammu and Kashmir – where the wool is processed, woven into shawls and is the main hub of its trade – had opposed the move.

The argument that Abdullah had given earlier was that Kashmir’s shawl trade would be hit and thousands of weavers and their families would become unemployed.

But the worldwide demands for the ban appear to have hit home. "World opinion is against it. Our people are being subjected to a lot of flak," Abdullah said, adding that his Government would now work actively to promote Pashmina shawls in a big way as an alternative to shahtoosh.

There’s good news for owners of toosh shawls as well. The State Government would register and certify all shawls made so far, as well as the existing stocks of shahtoosh, so that they would not be harassed by wildlife authorities. Abdullah indicated that the State Government would explore the possibilities of providing compensation to those involved in the trade, especially weavers who may have stocks leftover.

The State Wildlife Advisory Board had in January this year rejected the recommendations of the Central Government proposing amendments to the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Act to bring it on par with the Central legislation banning the trade in shahtoosh.

The State Government had contested the charge that the shahtoosh trade had led to the vanishing of the chiru. State Government officials would justify the shahtoosh trade saying the raw material was gathered from thorny bushes where the fine hairs were caught when the chiru shed its hair each year.

This was hotly contested by Gandhi, who said the disappearance of the chiru was directly related to the shahtoosh trade and only a complete ban would lead to a revival of the species.

Wildlife experts had also found links between shahtoosh dealers and the smugglers of tiger bone, skin and tiger parts, with Chinese traders buying these from Indian smugglers and selling them shahtoosh wool in exchange.

Abdullah’s move is bound to evoke protests from shahtoosh traders. According to the Kashmir Valley Shahtoosh and Pashmina Weavers, Manufacturers and Spinners Association, a cooperative body of the trade, shahtoosh earns around Rs 200 crore in foreign exchange.

The State Government has already begun efforts to showcase pashmina as an alternative to shahtoosh in world fashion centres like Paris and in the US, Abdullah said. "We are not giving up the shawl trade. Far from it. We are going to make a big push for Pashmina in the fashion centres," he says.

Maneka Gandhi, who appeared surprised by Abdullah’s change of stance, said weavers would be encouraged to take up work on "shahmina", a superfine blend of silk and pashmina as an alternative. Asked about the plight of those in the shahtoosh trade, she said, "It’s only the big traders and middlemen who will be affected by the ban, and they are mostly from Delhi."