Govt eyes commercial revival of Dhakai Muslin: state minister

The government is working to bring the fabled ‘Dhakai Muslin’ back to commercial production, aiming to revive the heritage fabric, create jobs and open up global markets, State Minister for Textiles and Jute Md Shariful Alam said yesterday.

Speaking at a seminar in Dhaka, he said research had restored the technology for producing the fabric, which was lost about 170 years ago. The next challenge is to improve the cotton used to make muslin and develop the textile for wider commercial use.

The seminar, titled “Dhakai Futi Karpas Fiber Genomics and Development”, was held at the CIRDAP Auditorium to discuss ways to improve the varieties of Futi Karpas, the cotton used to produce muslin.

It was organised under the second phase of the project to restore the technology for making muslin yarn and cloth. The Bangladesh Handloom Board is implementing the project under the Ministry of Textiles and Jute.

“Dhakai Muslin is not just a name; it is a witness to heritage and royal grandeur,” Shariful said. “Very soon, the long-awaited Dhakai Muslin, a golden chapter of our history, an inseparable part of our national identity and a saga of glory, will return in full once again.”

Textiles and Jute Secretary Sharf Uddin Ahmed Choudhury said under the ongoing project, researchers were working to develop Futi Karpas varieties that are less dependent on daylight duration, produce higher cotton yields and have more and larger cotton bolls with fewer seeds.

They are also seeking to control plant height, he said. Research is also under way to improve the count, which determines finesse, and quality of muslin yarn and refine the processes involved in preparing, weaving and finishing the fabric, said the secretary.

Handloom Board Chairman Md Jakir Hossan said intensive training and research had helped spinners progress from producing yarn of 80 metric count to 750 metric count.

Md Ayub Ali, project director of the muslin restoration project, said the first phase was completed at a cost of Tk 12.10 crore, restoring the technology for producing Dhakai Muslin after nearly 170 years.

The second phase is now under way with a budget of Tk 18.50 crore, he said.

Ahmed Mohamed Abdelmoghny Abdulbaky, chief researcher at the Cotton Breeding Department of Cotton Research Institute under Egypt’s Agricultural Research Center, also took part in the seminar as a discussant.