Shops raided in central market for selling fake Kashmiri artefacts

The government today raided shops at Central Market for allegedly selling counterfeit Kashmiri handicrafts despite having been given shops at a meagre rent of Rs 15 per month at the business hub of Srinagar.
“We raided a few shops at Kashmir Haat adjacent to Masjid Bilal on Wednesday over the complaints of sale of counterfeit artefacts,” Deputy Director (Quality Control) of the Handicrafts Department Sumaira Shamim told Kashmir POST.
Sumaira said that the inspection team would file a report about the quality of the samples of artefacts picked up from these shops in next few days.
To promote Kashmir’s craft, the Handicrafts Department had given 134 shops in the Kashmir Hatt at the prime location of business hub, Jahangir Chowk in early 1970s. However, officials and tourists accused the shopkeepers of selling fake garments and artefacts brought from outside the Valley.
“We shopped for around Rs 1 lakh at the government-owned Central Market on the premises of Masjid Bilal, but later we found all items were fake,” said Rekha Sodhi, a tourist from New Delhi.
Rekha had bought a Kashmiri shawl for Rs 25,000 from Central Market with the impression that it was from Kashmir. “I thought the market is owned by government and everything will be original from the state. But, we later found that the shawl and some suits were not original products,” Rekha said.
Officials said that last year the department had earned only Rs 37,645 as rent from 134 shops, which were worth billions of rupees.
“Other shopkeepers in the area are paying rent not less than Rs 50,000 per month while shopkeepers in Central Market are only paying Rs 15 per month,” said a shopkeeper in Jahangir Chowk.
“These shopkeepers have been given shops at a nominal rent to sell only state’s products. It is unfortunate that some of them are selling counterfeit items to tourists,” Deputy Director (Handicrafts) Zeenat Ara told Kashmir POST.
However, Sumaira said they had been receiving complaints and proper action had been taken against those shopkeepers. “Some miscreants are selling fake Kashmiri artefacts and the department will punish them. We won’t allow anyone to sell fake items to people, particularly tourists,” Sumaira said.