Sindhi Ajrak Bags: A Potential Alternative To Protect Environment From Pollution

Junaid Ali Khan

Islamabad: There was a time when our forefathers used to refurbish old, worn-out clothes and make them reusable, so there was no need to buy new clothes for a long time. Such was the durability of clothes that large cloth bags were also used to carry the goods; but with the passage of time, the requirements also changed and polythene shopping bags came into the field like the fashion of new clothes.

Polythene or plastic bags are harmful to the environment, health and agriculture, but we are no longer in that era, said Environmental Affairs Expert Javed Iqbal, adding that it takes a hundred years to dissolve plastic in the environment.

It has remained a part of the ecosystem for a hundred years. Thus, the presence of microplastics in the air affects human digestion and causes heart and blood diseases, including cancer, Environmental Expert Iqbal added.

Expert Javed stated that the government should ensure the implementation of the law to protect society from the harm of shopping bags. In this regard, it should take comprehensive measures using every platform to spread awareness among the public.

Instead of filming advertisements on the streets, a nationwide awareness campaign should be conducted in this regard, for which a collection of media channels should be used.

Abdul Majeed Sindhi from Bhat Shah, who is from Matiari district of Sindh, makes Ajrak bags, and he wants people to buy Ajrak bags instead of shopping bags so that, on the one hand, Sindhi culture is promoted and, on the other hand, cloth bags are used instead of shopping bags.

“By using it, people get something durable and harmless. People love hand-made Ajrak products, and they are in high demand in Karachi, including interior Sindh,” informedMajeed Sindhi.

According to Raziq, who is associated with this business, the work of making Ajarak by hand is very labour-intensive. Ajrak can be produced on cotton cloth itself, for which the cloth is passed through several stages. Handcrafted Ajrak is printed on both sides. Black, white, red, and blue are the colours of Ajrak.

To prepare Ajrak, the cloth is strengthened with mustard oil, and then a spice of soap, soda and salted oil is prepared. It is placed in camel dung to soften the cloth. Then comes the ‘char’ phase. In this step, different designs are printed with black ink. Various block prints are used to prepare these charming designs. These generally consist of two types of prints: block print and mule print.

The prices of bags and other items made of jaggery are either lower or higher due to the use of these prints.

Abdul Majeed, another master artisan, says that block print is cheap and mule is expensive. A bag of block-printed Ajrak costs Rs 200, while a bag of mule-printed Ajrak costs Rs 350. These designs are very popular and people also use it as decoration and for daily tasks.

The manager of an Ajarak shop in Karachi told that Ajarak products are very popular here and people buy them very eagerly. Because it is a hallmark of Sindhi culture and its bags are also durable which is why people happily buy them.

The management of a famous restaurant in Islamabad uses cloth bags after the government announcement. Akram, the manager of the restaurant, says that the cloth bags are durable and can be used many times after being used once.

Akram mentioned that the cost of a cloth bag is Rs 15, while shopping bags are Rs 380 per kg. They seem satisfied with this price, but they say that this price should be reduced to 10-12 rupees and the establishment of cloth bag manufacturing companies should be ensured so that people can use damage-free, durable cloth bags instead of shopping bags.

Aslam Butt owns a small general store and, like most shopkeepers today, uses shopping bags. He says that we also want to use cloth bags, but their prices are beyond his reach. If their prices are made reasonable, small shopkeepers can also play their role in ridding society of shopping bags by using them.