Behind the veil of Shahtoosh

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Behind the veil of Shahtoosh

Deepa Suryanarayan/Poornima Swaminathan

October 26, 2006

 

The killing of chiru — a highly endangered species of Tibetan antelope — may

be officially banned in India; but shahtoosh shawls, which are made from the fur

of chiru, continue to find takers among India’s rich industrialists,

celebrities and the nouveau riche.

 

And since the demand is there, so is the illegal supply, say animal activists.

The cost, depending on the quality of the wool used in making the shawl, may go

up to Rs8.5 lakh; but that too is not a deterrent for the rich, with an acquired

taste for finer things.

 

As for fashion designers, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) has

supported the campaign against the use of shahtoosh shawls. Designers like Ritu

Kumar, Gitanjali Kashyap and Kiran Uttam Ghosh are ambassadors of the Wildlife

Trust of India’s (WTI) fight against shahtoosh. “But more than a fashion

accessory, possessing a shahtoosh is considered a prestige symbol. So, there are

a number of families who buy shahtoosh despite it being illegal,†said a

Mumbai-based fashion designer. “Though shahtoosh is not so visible in

Mumbai’s party circuit, Delhi, which has infamously cold winters, is where

shahtoosh is flaunted,†she said.

 

Shahtoosh, a Persian word meaning “King of woolâ€, is woven with the down

hair of the chiru or the Tibetan antelope, by weavers of Kashmir. These shawls

were originally few and it took skilled artisans to weave the delicate hair,

which measured between nine and 11 micrometres. The shahtoosh shawls are said to

be so fine that they can slide through a ring. It is this speciality of the

shawl that has given it a big market across the globe.

 

“The chiru is found in the Ladakh region in India and the Qinghai Plateau in

China. These antelopes live in one of the harshest environments on earth, at an

altitude of more than 5,000 metres. Their special type of down fur, which is

both light and warm, allows them to survive in freezing conditions,†Tito

Joseph, senior project officer, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI),

said over the phone from Delhi.

 

One chiru yields approximately 120-150 gram of shahtoosh, necessitating the

death of at least three animals to make a one-by two-metre ladies shawl and up

to five antelope for a two-by three-metre men’s shawl. As many as 20,000 chiru

are poached annually, based on estimates by China’s State Forestry

Administration.

 

Modus Operandi

 

About the modus operandi of the smugglers, a senior official from ministry of

environment and forest said, “It takes months for poachers to kill antelopes.

Once killed, the coats are stripped from the animals and transported to Jammu

and Kashmir where the hairs are plucked from the skins and woven in to fine

shawls. Most of the antelopes’ coats are smuggled to Srinagar and its

neighboring cities where weaving takes place.†Though the weaving is done in

J & K, primarily Kashmiris are the ones involved in its

 

smuggling, he said. “It is transported from Srinagar to Delhi, Haryana and

Punjab, from where the shawls are smuggled to the US, Canada, France and the UK

where demands are high.â€

 

The cost of a shahtoosh shawl depends on the quality of wool used in making the

shawl. Its price starts from Rs1.5 lakh and can go up to Rs8.5 lakh. “The

clientele is mostly famous celebrities, foreigners, industrialists,†said

Jayasimha NG, Coordinator, Campaign and Legal Affairs, People for the Ethical

Treatment of Animals, India.

 

“These shawls are usually sold in export shops and emporiums in five star

hotels. Foreigners visiting India are amazed to see these shawls passing through

a ring. As for rich Indians, having a shahtoosh shawl is prestigious,†said

Jayasimha.

 

But in five star hotels, the racket is so well managed that raids seldom result

in seizures. “Connivance with customs officials helps them smuggle shawls out

of India via air or sea route,†said a source.

 

“Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the trade of this product is banned.

The minimum punishment is 3 years and the maximum not more than seven, along

with a fine of Rs25,000,†said Joseph.

 

To lift or not to lift the ban?

 

According to wildlife experts, persistent poaching had reduced the population of

Chiru from 1 million in 1900 to 50,000 in the late 1980s. But a recent survey in

China found that the numbers had gone up to 150,000 as a result of the inclusion

of the species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES). India is also a signatory of the CITIES convention, under which the

chiru has been declared a highly endangered species.

 

Last week, however, Mehbooba Mufti, president of the J & K People’s Democratic

Party said the ban should be lifted as it was the sole income of the Kashmiri

artisan communities. Wildlife activists have protested that it is important that

the ban be strictly imposed. “It is not advisable to lift the ban. India,

which is already being condemned by the international community for illegal

poaching of chiru, listed as highly endangered in the CITIES convention, will

receive more flak, if the ban is lifted,†said Jayasimha.

 

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