Stranded Kashmiri traders leave shawl industry draped in losses

Ludhiana: The noted shawl industry of Ludhiana, which accounts for highest production and sale of shawls in India, has been hit hard by the inability of Kashmiri traders to visit Punjab for business.
Since factories remained closed for over 50 days, no samples and finished goods could be produced. Moreover, Kashmiri shawl traders, who are the backbone of the business, could not visit Ludhiana and Amritsar for orders due to travel restrictions.
The Kashmiri businessmen not only sell shawls in their home state but across India, including places as far as West Bengal and Assam. A number of Kashmiri shawl traders have left their stock, cash and belongings in states they were stranded in before they came back to Jammu and Kashmir.
Businessmen in Ludhiana and Amritsar feel the situation is reminiscent of the time when article 370 was scrapped from Jammu and Kashmir and Kashmiri traders remained incommunicado for more than 70 days, causing huge loss to the Punjab shawl industry.
Ashutosh Handa, a wholesale shawl trader from Mochpura said, “By this time of the year, Kashmiri traders procure a huge quantity of shawls for sale in J&K, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal. They temporarily shift from their home towns to other states to sell shawls, generating business for us. For 50 days, not a single shawl was produced by any factory in Ludhiana. Now that production has started, we don’t have any buyers.”
Ghulam Rasool, a shawl trader from Kupwara, said, “We are facing huge problems due to the Covid-19 lockdown. I was in Punjab when the lockdown started. I came back home, leaving money and stock of shawls at my rented accommodation. Now, I am getting calls from shawl sellers to either make payment for the old stock or return it but I cannot do anything. There are hundreds like me who sell shawls from street to street or have set up shops. This is the first time we are facing such a complex situation.”
The alliance between city businessmen and Kashmiri traders is a very old one. Satpal Vig, a shawl trader from Mochpura, the biggest shawl market in the North, said, “Our shawl industry is largely dependent on Kashmiri traders who buy shawls and sell them in other cities and states. As we know them quite well, we also offer them credit. Due to the lockdown, they could not sell much of the stock and our payments are stuck.”