has added only a skull motif to the original Ajrakh design which is not acceptable and that is the reason the artisan community and I have spoken against this blasphemy.”
When asked how he came to know about the exhibit, he said, “I came across this article on the ‘The Fabric of India’ exhibit and was quite amused at this major mistake committed by a renowned designer”. Adding further he said, “The extent to which imitating a craft design and encouraging digital printing of a traditionally made craft are open for debate. They also add to other issues such as low income, poor working conditions faced by the artisans and that is why NGOs and the artisans themselves are supporting me in my protest.”
‘Haqq ki ladai hai’ is what Asif promptly said when asked about his agitation. He then clarified his stand on the issue, “My fight is not because Ajrakh is a traditionally Islamic craft, but it is solely for out of heartfelt concern and welfare of Indian artisans who will bear the brunt of digital printing of traditional crafts. It is also about the ‘Made in India’ tag, which he termed as misleading if the digital printing of traditional crafts is continued.
Into his struggle since a month, Shaikh has written to the V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) and he is awaiting their response. Signing off he said, “It is the government’s mandate to monitor and take appropriate action against such issues, but since nobody reacted or spoke up against it, I decided to take it up. I believe that it is essential to support Indian artisans who already are surviving by a thread, to save their livelihood from being taken away from them.”

What is Ajrakh?
Found in Sindh in Pakistan, Kutch in Gujarat and Barmer in Rajasthan, Ajrakh is the name of unique block-prints made on different fabrics. These prints are traditionally hand-made by artisans.
The issue at hand
The major question raised is the labeling of the jacket showcased as Ajrakh even though it has been digitally printed and not block-printed by hand. The other issue is that of imitation of the original design with just a minor change and trying to pass it off as original Ajrakh work.