Monday, Sep 2 2002
Khadi Weavers of Village Achhechha
- Tarannum ManjulTarannum Manjul is a 23 year old journalist, working for a English national daily, based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. An English Hons graduate from Delhi University, she is quite passionate about her job, with a keen interest in writing on women, children and issues of the downtrodden. An avid traveler, her job keeps her on toes and when not writing, Tarannum prefers reading, listening to music and painting. Writing on rural women and their achievements is her forte, and when it comes to talking about their rights, this Gemini, with guts to match, is all for it. Her motto in life is "I live for the moment, let every moment be mine."
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Some 82 years ago, this small village in Barabanki gave up everything on the call of Mahatma Gandhi. It chose khadi as it's medium to register its protest against the British and it's support to the Mahatma's cause. Since then, the entire village of Achhechha is involved in just one occupation – weaving khadi.
“I feel happy to be a part of this occupation which can be termed as an occupation of pride,” says Jamaluddin, fondly known as Dr Jamalu. Dr Jamalu belongs to the family of the oldest weavers of the village.
Situated 22 kms away from Barabanki near Jehagirabad, the village took up weaving khadi as it's occupation in 1920. According to the elders of the village, when Mahatma Gandhi made khadi a symbol of independence and freedom struggle, the village immediately adopted it. “It gave us an opportunity to be a part of the glorious struggle and also, helped us in earning bread,” says Dr Jamalu. It is said that when Gandhi passed from this place in the late 1919, he stopped over at the village to talk to the people about their problems.
Villagers reveal that during those crucial years (from the 1920's to 1947), the khadi weaved in this village was used for more purposes than one. “It was used for making clothes of well-known freedom fighters of this region and also for making the flags which were used during the mass movements,” says Dr Jamalu, with a smile of pride adorning his face. “We did not contribute much in the freedom struggle, but khadi connected this small village to the entire country,” says Mohd. Niyaz, another weaver, adding, “it’s a pity that we could not save some old flags or they would have been a connection to the struggle with the today’s world.”.
Post-independence, the village came under the Khadi and Village industries commission, who started supplying raw thread to the villagers and paid them for the cloth. “There are around 150 families in the village, out of which, 75 to 80 per cent are involved in weaving khadi. Our forefathers had given up everything else and since then, we have carried this work like a family legacy,” says Dr Jamalu. Every family in the village has atleast 2 to 5 looms in the house, where each member works according to the shifts. “We manage to weave atleast 11 to 15 metres every month in each household,” says Ahmed Rasool, one of the young weavers.
But since the past few years, the villagers are not satisfied with KVIC , which is their main supplier and buyer. “We are not being given the rates fixed by the government. Then, we do not have any schemes like pension also, which makes it even difficult,” says Mohd. Muneer. The villagers recently gave a 10-point memorandum of their demands to the chairman of KVIC, Dr Mahesh Sharma.
“Whatever the problems may be, we still feel proud that we weave a cloth which is adorned by our tricolour too and weaves the entire country into one bond,” say the villagers, as they once again get busy weaving tricolour cloths.
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