NEW DELHI. Indian weavers have written a letter to PM Modi on the alleged theft of banarasi sarees by Bangladesh. To safeguard their interests, weavers have demanded legal action against Bangladesh for violating geographical indication (GI) in appropriating banarasi sarees.On Monday, 8 GI registered proprietors addressed media in the presence of joint commissioner of small scale industries department, Umesh Singh.They told media that India holds the intellectual property rights over manufacturing banarasi sarees as per the GI registration. Despite this, for the past many years, Bangladesh has been illegally trading banarasi sarees and capturing global markets as a result.Production of these specialized sarees by Bangladesh is a clear violation of the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS agreement. This unwarranted and unethical ‘robbery’ has negatively impacted Indian weavers."We recently caught hold of a report in Bangladeshi media, which says that there are a number of factories in Rangpura, Gangachhara, Hathipada and Saudhupar areas of the country, that make more than thousand banarasi sarees daily,” revealed one of the 8 proprietors, Dr Rajinikanth , who is also director of human welfare association.“Not only are Bangladeshi weavers selling these sarees in their country, but are also exporting them to other countries. This has hit the Indian business severely,” he added.A letter underlining issues of weavers has been sent to PM Narendra Modi, Commerce and Textile Minister and GI registrar urging them to act as per International Agreements.Content courtesy: Navbharat Times

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