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| Review shahtoosh ban | | |
Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry has once again expressed
resentment over continuous ban on the trade of shahtoosh and
manufacture and sale of fine shawls made of shahtoosh. The trade
organization of Kashmir has pleaded for review of the decision by
government of India, imposing blanket ban on shahtoosh. Shahtoosh is a
very fine quality of wool obtained from the Tibetan antelope, a rare
specimen, somewhat resembling goats found at higher mountainous areas
of Ladakh, in India besides in Tibet and parts of China. The antelope,
which in the local language in Ladakh is called Chiru is threatened of
extinction and hence has been declared as a preserved specimen and its
poaching and killing has been banned and is a punishable offence. To
ward off its killing to procure shahtoosh, the government has banned
the trade and even possession of shahtoosh. This has robbed the
Kashmir's traditional handicraft industry of its finest shawls
manufactured of shahtoosh. According to KCCI about 20,000 families who
were engaged in the manufacture of shahtoosh shawls have been rendered
jobless and are on verge of starvation. Besides Kashmir has lost four
centuries old unique craft. It is further argued that shahtoosh is not
obtained by the locals through killing the antelope, the preservation
of which is the primary concern. The same is obtained as the antelopes
shed these in a natural course while rubbing their bodies with the
bushes. In the past government of J&K has also pleaded the cause of
shahtoosh traders with the government of India and has suggested for
review of the blanket ban on shahtoosh and instead ensure that there
is no poaching and killing of the rare animal and the ban should be
confined only to the killing of the antelope, with severest
punishment. But the same has produced no result, with the result that
about 20,000 families are put to continuous suffering. The government
of India has already constituted an expert group on shahtoosh to look
into the whole gamut of the problem. Since the main objective is the
preservation of a rare animal, on verge of extinction, there is also
need for breeding the animal in controlled natural habitat, by taking
up the matter with the concerned governments. The wild life reserves
in the Tibetan Plateau where antelope is mainly found is under Chinese
control and a combined strategy by India and China is called for to
protect the species. However, to spare the loss of traditional
Kashmir's fine craft and to spare the economic loss to the
manufactures and traders of shahtoosh, a way can be found that the
government holds the monopoly of shahtoosh obtained in the forests,
with the antelopes biologically shedding the same by rubbing their
body with the bushes. The government can in turn sell the same to the
manufactures. This way the chances of killings of antelope will be
mininised. This will require a large forest protection force but can
save the industry from closure.
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