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J&K activist serves legal notice to K M Birla

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 4/24/2014 2:34:21 PM

JAMMU, Apr 23: Babal Afzal, a J&K activist associated with `Pashmina goat project’ aimed at saving the `Pashmina goat’ and the Pashmina industry eco-system through awareness campaigns against the duplicate and fake Pashmina products, has served a legal notice to Kumar Mangalam Birla for “No Ullu Banaoing” Idea Cellular Pashmina advertisement.
In the legal notice served to the owner and chairman of Idea Cellular Kumar Mangalam Birla and the MD and Chief Executive Officer Himanshu Kapania, Babar has demanded the withdrawal of said advertisement with immediate effect from all TV channels, a public apology for, what he said, “wrongly projecting the people of Kashmir as crooks as the advertisement is insulting hundreds of honest Kashmiri handicraft salesmen by projecting them as crooks.” He has also demanded a counter advertisement to correct the image of people of Kashmir for the similar duration that Idea has aired this advertisement on Prime Time, damages to each of the 3,00,000 registered Pashmina weavers of Kashmir, who are working day and night to promote the authentic Pashmina for the un-quantifiable loss that the advertisement has caused to them.
He has further demanded damages to over 1000 families/communities of shepherds, in Himalayas who rear the delicate and precious Pashmina goat, which, he said, are constantly getting displaced by such wrong messages and confusing publicity. “The advertisement has not only destroyed the industry eco-system but has nullified all the efforts that he (Babar) has been making to save the Pashmina goat, Pashmina industry and efforts to fight the battle against fake Pashmina,” it was stated in the legal notice.
Babar has further stated that ring test is not a confirmatory test for testing the quality of such shawls.
“Your advertisement is not only viewed in India but across many countries and this advertisement runs on prime-time almost on all TV channels,” Babar has stated.
As the ring test is not at all a confirmatory test for certifying the quality of a genuine Pashmina product and in fact, shawls made out of synthetic fiber like viscose can also easily pass through a finger ring. The parameters under the G.I. (Geographical Indication) Act are the only testing parameters to check the genuineness of Pashmina.
“Kashmiri Pashmina, as regulated under G.I. Act which includes undergrowth of fleece from the mountain goat Capra hiracus, having a fineness of 12-16 microns, made of delicate, fine woolen yarn that is spun out of this fleece by the hand-spinning process, is hand-woven using warp and waft yarns, is woven in three weaves and is rendered/un-rendered with fine hand embroidery in different proportions. And no other method can prove the quality of pure Pashmina, not even passing a shawl through a finger ring. The methods to test purity of a Pashmina shawl which do not confirm to the quality manual under G.I. can be termed spurious and therefore, are an infringement of the G.I. rights of the community registered as the proprietor in the G.I. Registry,” Babar has pointed out.
Babar, who has been working for the past several years for the rights of the stakeholders associated with Pashmina industry and has been associated with `Save Pashmina goat’ campaign, has sent emails to the company to correct and stop airing of the misleading advertisement “No Ullu Banaoing.” The advertisement shows two women buying Pashmina shawls at a store where the salesman assures them of the quality, yet one of the women show him a `Whatsapp’ video saying Pashmina shawls are supposed to pass a ring test.
Babar’s work and contribution in the field, particularly his `Pashmina goat project’, have been appreciated by the former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and the Vice President of India Hamid Ansari. Pashmina goat project is aimed at saving the Pashmina goat and the Pashmina industry eco-system through awareness campaigns against the duplicate and fake Pashmina which is destroying the handicrafts industry and also the life of Pashmina goat.
Babar stated that unquantifiable loss of business to the shepherds, manufacturers and traders has nullified all the efforts made by the government, the stake holders and efforts personally made by him as an activist for the past several years. “The loss the advertisement has caused as the reach and impact of the advertisement is not only national but international. The advertisement has promoted Idea's brand and service at the cost of so many innocent and hardworking people linked with this trade for livelihood and it appears that un-researched effort by advertisers has caused not only a huge dent to the lives of traders of the Pashmina but also to the lives of thousands of nomads and shepherds fighting a tough battle of survival because of the fake Pashmina which is destroying the Pashmina industry eco-system. The advertisement has hurt and pained him and all Kashmiris, particularly the shepherds rearing Pashmina goat and the manufacturers of Pashmina shawls,” he said.