The Hindu : Bangladeshi polyester spins money in Tripura

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 31, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

Bangladeshi polyester spins money in Tripura

Sushanta Talukdar

Agartala

As the election draws near in Tripura, it is time for the polyester mills of Bangladesh to make money. With the political parties stepping up campaigning for the April 22 Lok Sabha elections, the Old Super Market, more popularly known as "Bangla Market" in the Bottola locality of the Tripura capital, is now awash with bundles of polyester fabric manufactured in the textile mills of Bangladesh.

Workers of political parties entrusted with the task of making banners and flags for campaigning have already made bulk purchase of the Bangladeshi fabric as it is cheaper than the Indian fabric. Almost all the textile outlets in Bangla Market are stacked high with bundles of red, green, white and orange fabric.

The entire capital city wears a festive look with the flags and banners of the CPI (M), Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Nationalist Trinamool Congress, made from Bangladeshi polyester purchased from the Bangla Market waving in the breeze. Traffic intersections, party offices and other buildings — every vantage spot in the city sports party flags and banners.

"I have already sold 20 bundles of Bangladeshi fabric in all the four colours. I have ordered another 100 bundles as the parties will buy more in the first week of April when the campaigning is expected to pick up. The parties prefer this fabric for making banners and flags as it is durable and because it is colour fast", says Ranjit Deb.

Deb postponed his trip to Guwahati for a cataract operation on his right eye till the elections are over in Tripura, as he cannot afford to miss the election market for Bangladeshi fabric. "Except for the polyester fabric in these four colours, the market is down. I need money for the operation. So I have postponed my visit to Guwahati till the next month," he adds.

As the Indo-Bangladesh border is just 3km away from Agartala, getting a supply of the fabric from polyester mills in Bangladesh is quite easy for the traders in Bangla Market. "We don't have to go to Bangladesh to get it. The suppliers come every month with the required stock," Deb says. The couriers are mostly teenagers living along the border, who cross over to collect the bundles from the suppliers and bring them to the traders in Bangla market. Tripura has 856-km long international boundary with Bangladesh, mostly porous and unmanned, which has led to a brisk, unofficial trade in consumer goods smuggled across the border.

"The Bangladesh fabric in the four primary colours are in great demand during election time as it is cheaper than Indian fabric. While the cheapest Indian fabric costs about Rs 18 a metre, the Bangladeshi fabric is available at the Bangla Market for just Rs 10 a metre. Since it is smuggled, there is no import or export duty involved. Indian fabric is costlier as taxes have to be paid on it," says Arun Kumar of Jayshree Textiles on Shakuntala Road.

The traders say that compared to the Lok Sabha elections, the demand for the Bangladeshi fabric was more during the Assembly elections held last year as it involved more candidates, more meetings and hence more flags and banners. However, they hope to sell more in the coming days as the political parties step up campaigning.

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