Nusrat Jahan Nipa
Khadi or Khaddar is a thousand-year tradition of the subcontinent. This cloth is made by digging a hole or shaft in the ground and placing it in it. According to many, the cloth is named Khadi because it is made from shaft. When Mahatma Gandhi started the Swadeshi Movement with the people, the use of this Khadi cloth started to increase. Therefore, Mahatma Gandhi is said to be the founder of its’ in the Indian subcontinent. In 1920, he first highlighted the importance of Khadi cloth and brought Swadeshi products in front of everyone as an example of estaan blishment. The cloth made by Comilla Khadi industry is a very favorite cloth for all classes of people in the country/abroad.
Yarn was made from karpus cotton and khadi cloth was made using that yarn on spinning wheels. In Comilla, there is a lot of talk regarding the naming of Khadi or Khaddar. There is a saying that the name Khadi is derived from the factclothen on the loom sitting in a pit or hole. Others say that the cloth made by spinning the yarn from native cotton on a hand-powered loom is called Khadi or Khaddar cloth.
Khadi cloth is made with 40-60 count yarn. It is our own. Khadi cloth is also being made by bringing 100-count yarn from foreign countries. The result is thin khadi, which is also very smooth. This khadi dress can be worn even in summer. Khadi is dyed by tie-dye. Varieties are again bringing various types of work to this colorful cloth. The quality of Khadi cloth is very different. Like thin thick checks and different colored gauze, fabrics are available. Khadi fabric can be estimated at 80 to 150 rupees per yard. Also available are khadi sal rugs bedcovers or three pieces and sarees.
More than a hundred looms still survive in Chandina, Muradnagar and Devidwar in Comilla. Khadi industry is trying hard to maintain this traditional industry. Keeping in mind the needs of the customers and keeping up with the times, Khadi cloth is being made in some very modern designs. Some new modernity and changes have come in Khadi industry. Plain color khadi cloth is now being printed in different colors. Currently, the demand for khadi cloth clothing has increased in various fashion houses of the country. Garments made of Khadi cloth are being exported to some developed countries of the world.
Today, Khadi in our country does not have the same pure properties as it used to have. There is a ditch. The khadi fabric that is made today is a combination of milled and hand-spun yarn. Mill yarn is used for weaving here. Unfortunately, even after all these years, this situation has not improved. Because the amount of khadi yarn in cloth has further decreased; The amount of yarn in the mills has increased. But, it is becoming impossible day by day to keep up with the mechanized factories of the modern era. Apart from this, the price of raw materials for making Khadi is increasing abnormally. As a result, there is no alternative to the government’s direct support to sustain this industry.
