Strained Bangladesh-India ties have been a loss for our shari weavers, win for theirs
While Bangladeshi weavers suffer from declining profits, shari producers in West Bengal have benefited from the import ban through land routes
Mohammad Rashedul, in his late 30s, has spent his entire life surrounded by the familiar sound of handlooms.
"I grew up seeing people here [Sirajganj, Rajshahi] working with an exceptional amount of patience and perseverance, weaving sharis and preserving history at the same time. And that is what inspired me to join the business. It has been over a decade now since I started weaving sharis," he said.
Though the clacking of handlooms was replaced by the metallic vibrations of power looms decades ago, the cotton sharis have managed to retain their age-old, simplistic charm. Thousands of weavers work from dawn to dusk to keep the 2000-year-old craft alive and thriving.
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But things have gone downhill over the past few months.
On 17 May this year, India banned an extensive list of Bangladeshi goods from entering its territory via land routes. The list includes processed food, fruit-flavoured drinks, fruit, cotton, plastic and PVC finished goods, wooden furniture — and sharis.
According to a notification by India's Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), "These imports will now be permitted only via the Nhava Sheva Seaport in Maharashtra."
The ban came in retaliation to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) embargoing some Indian goods like tobacco, powdered milk, yarns etc.
"Using the sea-route is expensive and time-consuming. India is one of our biggest buyers. But due to the ban, sales have reduced substantially," Rashedul told TBS.
Like him, many weavers are now thinking of changing their profession if the situation does not improve soon.
Import ban's effect on Bangladeshi shari industry
India has historically been a big market for Bangladeshi cotton, Jamdani and taant sharis due to better quality, pricing and designs.
According to finance ministry data, the handloom industry employs approximately 1.5 million workers directly and indirectly.
But now, dwindling exports have made it difficult for weavers like Rashedul to maintain a decent livelihood.
Apart from the inexpensive and simple cotton sharis, the exquisite and intricate Jamdani caters to the elite customers. Each Jamdani shari can take hundreds of hours to weave and may sell for Tk3 lakh or more.
"But the recent drop in sales led to a decline in business. Jamdani costs a lot to produce. With less product being sold, losses will be incurred," said Jamshed, a jamdani shari trader in Mirpur.
"The ban has affected the handloom industry quite a lot. There used to be a substantial amount of profit before Durga Puja every year. This year, the weavers had to let go of that portion of profit," said Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, member (Planning and Implementation) of the Bangladesh Handloom Board.
However, things are very different on the other side of the border.
"There used to be a substantial amount of profit before Durga Puja every year. This year, the weavers had to let go of that portion of profit."
Bangladesh's loss, West Bengal's win
Things took a positive turn for shari traders in West Bengal following the ban.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, sharis from Bangladesh used to occupy 30% of India's market. But sales of locally produced sharis in India increased by around 25% year-on-year during Durga Puja this year.
Areas in West Bengal, like Shantipur, Nadia, Hooghly and Murshidabad are famous for their weaving industry, with Shantipur alone having more than 100,000 weavers.
"The local women prefer to buy Bangladeshi saris as they come in attractive packaging and the fabric used there is slightly superior to ours," Sanjay karmakar, 40, a wholesale trader of Nadia district told Al Jazeera. Along with that, modern women choosing leggings, tunics and other modern clothes over traditional attires had been pinching sales.
"The restrictions came at the right time, just before the onset of the festival season and that immensely benefited the industry," Al Jazeera quoted Santanu Guha Thakurta, a fashion designer, as saying.
However, Indian Banarasi shari weavers expressed concern regarding the loss of sales to customers in Bangladesh.
"These [Banarasi] sharis are in high demand in Bangladesh during festivals and weddings, but the ban has led to a more than 50% drop in business," Ansari, another Indian shari trader told Al Jazeera.
Pawan Yadav, 61, a wholesale shari trader, told Al Jazeera that the business has come to a standstill since the regime change in Dhaka. "We used to supply around 10,000 sharis annually to Bangladesh, but everything has come to a halt," he said.
Indian shari entering Bangladesh illegally
Yet even after the difficulties faced by importers, the store shelves at Mirpur's Benaroshi Polli were filled with sharis from Varanas, Kolkata and Chennai.
So, how are the sharis getting in?
At the Benapole border, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) recently confiscated several consignments of Indian sharis.
Aminul Haque, vice president of the Benapole Import-Export Association, said that sharis have not been imported for the past year due to high tariffs. But before that, sharis worth hundreds of crores of taka were imported annually.
"Now, whatever is coming in is through smuggling," he added.
Sultan Mahmud Bipu, customs affairs secretary of the Benapole C&F Agents Association, said that over the past year, the government has imposed double the duty on sharis entering the country, which is why imports are down.
Chinmoy Saha, owner of Mansa Bastralaya shari shop in Jashore's Boro Bazar, said when imported through legal channels, the duty and other costs become very high. "For this reason, no one brings sharis legally anymore. Those who bring them through illegal channels are making a profit," he added.
Lieutenant Colonel Saifullah Siddiqui, commanding officer of Jashore-49 BGB Battalion, said that they are constantly working to prevent smuggling along the border. In the past year, BGB has seized at least Tk10 crore worth of clothing from the border.
