ENARADA, Mysore, January 4, 2014
In order to save traditional weaving methods which have been oppressed by power looms dominated in the sector, ‘Banashakari yathre’ will be taken out from January 15 to 27, announced theatre expert prasanna.
The padayatra will commence from Gajendragad in Gadag district and pass through Koppal, Raichur and Bagalkot districts.
In a preliminary meeting held at ranganaya premises, he said all India weavers federation will hold a 200 km Padayatra covering all major villages where weaving has been practiced. Weavers, social workers, nature lovers, writers are expected to participate in the padayatra.
In view of the All India Federation of Handloom Organisations has called for a nation-wide Satyagraha ,the weavers in Karnataka have expressed their support for the protest, prasanna said .The government should stop replacing the handlooms with powerlooms, he urged.
He said that an indefinite fast would be observed at shramajeevi, an organsiatiaon in Heggodu Village,Sagara Taluk, shimoga district from January 30.
“A textile park was set up at doddaballapura for the growth of the handloom industry but it features more of powerloom products” Prasanna alleged.
If the president of HEPS, an organization that exports handloom products, himself has invested in 3000 power looms, how a handloom industry can flourish, he questioned.
He said the government must make strict rules, to make sure that products of handlooms are used in school, colleges, hospitals and other government organizations, to encourage and help the handloom industry flourish.
India has 43,32 lakh looms, out of which 24 lakh are handloom weavers, 78 percent of whom are women and 80 percent live in villages, 28,25 percent of the are from backward classes, he added.
