Kashmir's Craft Revival

In the Valley's silent workshops, a cultural revival is bringing dignity, confidence, and global reach to Kashmiri craftsmanship.

- Mohammad Amin Mir

In a small, sunlit room in Srinagar, Zahida Begum bends over a fine Pashmina shawl, guiding her needle through delicate threads. Her fingers move with practiced ease, but this time, the shawl is not for a local trader.

It's headed to a customer in Stockholm, a connection made with the tap of her son's smartphone.

For years, Zahida's craft was treated as just another piece of heritage slipping into the past. Demand was falling, brokers were taking the lion's share, and artisans like Zahida were earning barely enough to continue.

But something is shifting in Kashmir.

The intricate art of the Valley is finding new life. Kashmiri crafts, once struggling to survive, are now reaching the world. Not through chance, but through deliberate support that is changing the lives of the people who make them.

Part of this change can be traced to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's growing focus on Kashmir's artisans. His recent diplomatic gifts of Kashmiri handicrafts to world leaders have quietly raised the status of these art forms.

But beyond the symbolism, the transformation is unfolding in workshops, markets, and households across the Valley.

For the first time in years, many Kashmiri artisans are seeing real possibilities.

When Zahida's son told her that the shawl she was working on would be purchased directly by a customer in Europe, she was skeptical. “We always sold to middlemen,” she said. “How can someone so far buy from me?”

But they can now.