‘Wants to present it to PM Modi on the eve of Independence Day’
Tauseef Ahmad
Bandipora July 12:- Hailing from a small village Ashtangoo of north kashmir’s Bandipora district, Mohd Maqbool Dar is the first Kashmiri artisan to design a National Flag themed carpet.
The national flag themed carpet was made with the aim to uplift the dying art.
Talking to Kashmir Despatch about his journey Dar said that he left school early due to financial crises in his family as his family couldn’t afford to pay the school fee.
“A school dropout has no other avenues but to acquire some skills and I chose the art of weaving carpets. I was 13 years old when I left my school and started weaving carpets in order to support my family and take them out of financial crises,” Maqbool said.
While weaving carpets he was very much satisfied with his work as it earned him a good life.
“Due to lockdown during Covid-19 pandemic, movement of people and vehicles was blocked and no one was allowed to go outside. The pandemic affected the business of artisans also around the whole world. Instead of losing hope, I decided to be creative and prepared a few unique carpets including the national flag themed carpet,” Maqbool told Kashmir Despatch.
Kashmiri art, especially carpet weaving is famous across the globe and has a tremendous market at national and international levels. People belonging to the carpet industry including weavers, sellers and dealers have their own names and fame in the past.
Dar said that the Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT) helped him to flourish in business.
He is the first artisan to make a national flag themed carpet in India. This is for the first time the people of the valley also appreciated his creativity.
Dar claimed that this is the first carpet prepared from the Kashmir valley on which the national flag is designed.
“I want to present this carpet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 15th August, Independence day,” he added.
Dar is also working on the other two 15ft to 17ft long carpets on which the national flag will be designed.
