Adamdighi (Bogura) Correspondent :
Shawil,a village under Bogura district and its surrounding areas have the biggest role in the history of weaving industry in Bangladesh. Even in North Bengal, this weaver group still retains the weaving culture of the zone.
Weavers live in this village since long ago. And as a result, different kinds of haat were developed in Shawil village in which buying and selling of winter clothes, blankets, woolen (wool) yarn are the main attraction. Due to the antiquity and popularity of this haats and the fact that chadar blankets are mainly sold in this haat, people named this haat “Chadar Kambal Haat Village”. This haat starts from around 4 pm till 10 pm. And market times are Sunday and Wednesday. Moreover, this market is open every day. Around 50 villages around this market have developed weaving villages. They are the ones who have opened the door to a huge potential of this blanket industry. When Shawil’s market is held, it seems like a fair is held. The streets of the village are always bustling with wholesalers coming from far and wide. Around this market, traders from all over the country, including the capital Dhaka, come to buy blankets and yarn.
The sound of the loom and the weaving of yarn are mixed with the dreams of the people of the surrounding villages including Shawil. Some have their own looms and some work on other’s looms. Despite the technological dominance, this original industry is still in the hands of the people of nearby villages including Shawil village. The atmosphere of the village echoes with the sound of continuous looms throughout the village and the busyness of people of various professions including men and women. Someone is releasing the thread and someone is sitting with a spinning wheel and threading the thread on a needle or bobbin the thread. Neat looms installed in the yard and house of every house are running day and night. Every house has at least one and 2 to 10 looms. One is wheeled and the other is completely handmade with bamboo wood. Apart from Shawil, the picture of about 50 nearby villages including Dattabaria, Mangalpur, Delunj is similar. The main occupation of most of the weavers around Shawil village revolves around the weaving industry. There are more than 10,000 weaving families in 50 nearby villages and around 50,000 to 60,000 people struggle for survival around this industry. Some are hereditary and some are new. Before the start of winter, the weavers of Shawil and the surrounding area started making blankets and weaving yarn and large sheets made of yarn, from bed sheets to ladies sheets, blankets, lungis, towels, towels and other types of winter clothes and clothes.
Businessmen Ujjal Hossain, Jewel Ahmed Mofazzal Hossain, Shahjahan, Zahid and many others said that Shawil Haat had five shops in the beginning but now there are about 1000 to 1500 shops in Shawil Hat. And new crafts have been created. Being a very high quality sheet, the demand for this sheet is huge in Bangladesh and these sheets go to many countries of the world. Blankets, sheets and accessories are made by processing sweater yarn of various garments. This huge workplace has been developed here without any kind of publicity and public-private aid cooperation. In addition to making sheets, there are business establishments for winter cloth making machines, yarn, dyes, looms, loom equipment and latai. There are many small shops around the market. Every day from 7 am to 5 pm pick yarn from the lot, make ribbon or arrange the yarn. Most of these employees are poor women of neighboring villages who are engaged in wages of Tk 150 to Tk 300 per day. Although there are thousands of possibilities surrounding the village of Shawil’s sheets and blankets, no one sees it as a field of possibilities. The village would have been an exemplary export field if government contracts could be extended to the weavers. Providing sufficient capital to weavers, healthy marketing opportunities and proper supply of raw materials can make the weaving industry of this country as popular and glorious as before. In the artistic beauty of this country, a trend can be saved from destruction. All it takes is a little initiative. And if you get it, the weaving industry of this country survives.
