Pashm, a Farsi word means wool, and +ina is Farsi suffix meaning “refined” or “pure”. In Farsi the word is used for any woolen garment not necessarily refined one. But in Kashmiri idiom, it connotes very special refined wool obtained from special specie of goats found in the mountain fastnesses of Lesser Tibet of Ladakh as we know it now. Changthang is the precise locale where this specie of goat is tended by the local people for obtaining special wool, which when refined, becomes the fabulous pashmina. We do get one or two references in ancient history of Kashmir indicating that kings and queens did obtain the refined wool to make their shawls. But it was in the times of Mughal rulers of India, who, after occupation of Kashmir in A.D. 1586, got introduced to the pashmina and the garments particularly the shawls made of it. Later Mughal rulers included the stuff in the list of their most precious and cherished gifts presentable to royalties. When Emperor Jehangir’s envoy Barkhordar Khan presented his credentials at the court of Shah Abbas II of Iran at Isfahan, Kashmir pashmina shawl was among the costly presents, and highly appreciated by the Iranian king. After General Zorawar Singh, the Commander of the forces of Maharaja Ranbir Singh conquered Tibet, he introduced pashmina at the Dogra court and, thereafter, Dogra rulers also gave the staff its deserved value and place of pride as very special and precious gift. Specimens of exquisite shawls with fine and delicate needle work done in hand are still to be seen at the Dogra Art Gallery in Jammu. Actually it were the French traders who gave pashmina shawls their international status as the finest stuff. It became immensely popular with Russian and French nobility around the time when Maharaja Ranjit Singh ruled over Sikh Kingdom in the Punjab. Thereafter pashmina became a predacious commodity for traders and businessmen.
It is sheer travesty that at the Pashmina Dehairing Project inauguration in Leh, politics was dragged into an event that has exclusive relevance to the uplift of the shepherds and other field workers and thousands of affiliates who very painstakingly tend the flocks of pashmina goats in harsh climatic conditions to make a living or are engaged in its refining and marketing. Pashmina industry, irrespective of its quantum, is not the creation either of one political party or the other so that they would now stake exclusive claim to have the credit of its development. Obviously after independence, all sources of economic growth of the State had to be explored and exploited. Pashmina Dehairing Project is a link in the process of development of the industry which is of considerable source of income to thousands of families in the J&K State. Political leaders and parties should not try to score a point on their rivals over something that is integral part of their duty and function. If Congress party addressed the issue of development of Pashmina industry way back in 2004, in 2014 the NDA Government made further improvement on it and introduced the scientific methods of increasing the quantity of the stuff, dehairing it and at the same time focusing on the improvement of the standard of life of the shepherd families involved in the business.
There is much in the affair on which the mainstream political parties can converge while demonstrating their deep concern in regard to a variety of aspects of the industry. It has to be made sure that induction of upgraded technical methods should not impair the quality of pashmina in any way. It is extremely important to ensure that pashmina goats are made immune to various kinds of diseases that could destroy their specie. Above all, it has to be ensured that marketing of the stuff is regulated in a manner that maximum benefit accrues to the shepherds who produce the raw material and the workmen who work at its refinement and final production. Each political party should script its valuable suggestions that tend to improve the pashmina business in the State. It should also be a project with the Sheep and Animal Husbandry Department of the State and the Union Government to explore possibilities of raring special pashmina goats at other places in or outside the State so that our national economy is further strengthened.
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