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Head lines Business Focus : Closed Adamjee: The lost glory of Jute Culture : Exclusive and intricate Closed Adamjee: The lost glory of Jute Delwar Hassan, The New Nation Jute mills in Bengal: A peep into the past The history of Jute is long and it could be traced back to the 16th century, a period much before the advent of machinery. Ain-i-Akbari written by Abul Fazal in 1590 records that the poor villagers of Bengal wore jute cloth. A very simple handloom and hand spinning wheels were used by the weavers. The East India Company along with other goods, undertook to ship hand-woven and ready-made jute sacks to the world market. In 1850, three crore yards of jute cloth and bags were shipped to America, UK, Dutch Indies and other countries. In 1793, the first sample Jute consignment was sent to Dundee by Roxborg of the East India Company for experimental processing of Jute from Bengal. These denote a very glorious past of Jute in Bengal as well as India. Early Jute Mills in Bengal In 1855 the first Jute Mills was set up in Bengal by George Auckland at Serampore, West Bengal, namely, Wellington Jute Mills. The production of this Jute mills were used by the local users. Prior to establishment of this mill, fibre was used locally by the handloom Jute weavers of Bengal to make twines, ropes, etc. It was the Crimean War of 1854-56, which really set the Dundee Jute Industry on its feet. The American Civil War (1861-65) also gave further impetus to the jute trade. The Kolkata-Kaligonj Rail Line was an added factor in growth of Jute Mills in Bengal. In order to meet the increasing needs, by the end of the sixties of the nineteenth century, four jute mills namely, 1. East India Jute Mills (1859), 2. Gouripur Jute Mils (1859), 3. Sirajgonj Jute Mills (1866), and 4. Boxnuagar Jute Mills were established. Except Sirajgonj Jute Mills, the three other Jute Mills were located near Kolkata and by the riverside of Hoogly.
Though, the Sirajganj Jute Mills was set up in 1886, but it could not flourish in a befitting manner till 1897, when it was damaged in an earthquake, As Narayangonj was rapidly growing and Goalando and Dhaka-Narayangonj rail line was set up, the river transport for Sirajgonj to other destinations lost its importance. After the earthquake, the machinery of the Sirajgonj Jute Mills was brought to Hoogly to be installed in Delta Jute Mills. In 1914, the land of the Sirajgonj Jute Mills were acquisitioned by the Railway Department and thus the history of the first Jute Mills of Eastern Bengal was put to an end. On the contrary, Kolkata was situated in close proximity to jute growing districts of Eastern Bengal and Assam, she had cheap labour and got at least 27 Jute Mills by the end of nineteenth century with 77000 labourers working in these mills. The twentieth century was an extraordinary leap forward in the fortunes of the Jute Manufacturing Industry in Bengal. In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, from time to time rumours had been rife about the establishment of Jute Mills in different parts of Eastern Bengal. The probable places were Chittagong. Chandpur and Narayanganj. But the experts of the Civil Service deployed in the then Eastern Bengal and Assam Provinces, were reluctant to set up any jute mills in Eastern Bengal and Assam. They pointed out handicaps such as labour market facilities, absence of coal and lack of engineering establishment. It could not be denied the fact that the East Bengal was the hinterland of Jute Industry of Bengal and till 1911, there were 73 Jute Baling centres in East Bengal. In spite of that there was not a single Jute Mills in East Bengal till the Partition in 1947. It is needless to say that the major baling centres were owned by the Indian Marwaris and other non-Bengalis. The Muslims were far behind in trade and commerce in Bengal. With the Swadeshi Movement and the declaration of world war, the demand for jute goods increased again and more and more mills were set up in Bengal. In 1927, there were a total of 50,354 looms. In 1929, the Adamjee Jute Mills was erected in India with 550 looms. After the partition in 1947, the Adamjee Group established a Jute Mills with the same name and style "Adamjee Jute Mills" in East Bengal. Growth of non-Bengali entrepreneurship in Bengal: Before and after Partition After the annulment of partition of Bengal and first world war, the entry of more non-bengali-Marwari entrepreneurs were recorded. In the late 1920's there were a good many Indian directors. Sir Onkarmuli Jatia, Rai Bahadur Goenka Bahadur, Rameshwar Nathani, Hazarimull, Doodwalla, Chadmull Kanori, Ramkumar Bangur, Chhajuram were many of them. The growth of non-Bengali Muslim enrepreneurship is a late process. Even the traditions of Muslim society worked against industrial progress. Muslims had habitually invested in land and trade not in industry or Banking, However, at the end of first world war, the Agakhani, Memon, Ismailia, Borha, Daud-Adamjee group became the prominent Muslim groups in the arena of trade and commerce in Bengal. The foundation of Calcutta Muslim Chamber of Commerce paved the way for the Muslim traders. By 1940, Chittagong, Narayangonj and Dhaka Muslim Chambers of Commerce were established. Specially, the establishment of Chittagong Muslim Chamber of Commerce opened the gateway for Muslim businessmen to operate business with Rangoon. On the eve of Pakistan Movement, Mr. Jinnah intended to see the Adamjee-Ispahani group in the presidentship of All India Federation of Muslim Chamber of Commerce. In 1946, M.A.H. Ispahani was the General Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League while Adamjee Dawood was the Vice-President of the Muslim League. At partition in 1947, the area which is now Bangladesh inherited a legacy of industrial backwardness. In 1947, the Pakistan province of East Bengal inherited only 10 Cotton factories out of 400 in India, none of Bengal's 106 Jute-mills, not a single iron and steel plant, paper mills, etc. It was left with 46 seasonal Baling Presses, 3 sugar factories and 1 cement factory. This vacuum made the non-Bengali Muslim entrepreneurs interested in establishing industries, specially Jute Mills in East Bengal. Among the non-Bengali Muslims, Memon Group was one of the leading entrepreneurs in East Bengal. The business establishment controlled and run by the Memon Group in East Bengal is recorded as under. Industrial group No of Units 1. Adamjee 13 2. Bawani 19 3. Dawood 9 4. Karim: 10 5. Bohra: 7 6. Memon Pilon: 4 7. Memon Pacwala: 6 8. Others: 40 An introduction to Adamjee Group The major business community in East Bengal was belonging to the Memon group, like Adamjee, Dawood, Borha and Karim groups who were also included in the Memon Community. About 27 per cent of the industry was owned by this renowned business community. Even 57 per cent of imports was performed by this group. Adamjee, the most influential sect of the Memon group was headed by Sir Adamjee Hajee Dawood while his three sons A.W. Adamjee, Gul Mohammad Adamjee and Zakaria Adamjee were the key personnel to run the business of this group. A.G. Adamjee, the grandson of Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood and son of Mr. Zakaria Adamjee was also associated with the business of this group. Mr. Ashraf Adamjee, son of Gul Mohammad Adamjee also joined the family business and had been looking after the Star Particle Board as a "Project Director," Abdul Wahid Adamjee entered business in 1926 at Rangoon and their main business were match factory and Rice mills. After the partition in 1947, three sons of Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood had migrated to Pakistan and installed the Adamjee Jute Mills. Early phase of Adamjee Jute Mills Partition in 1947 left the then East Pakistan without Jute Mills, while she had the bulk of raw jute. In order to utilise the raw jute, the Government expressed serious concern in establishing jute mills in the new-born state. A meeting between Adamjee brothers and Mr. Golam Faruque, the then Secretary of Commerce and Industries was held and it brought about an arrangement whereby Adamjee brothers were to take active interest in the set-up of three modern jute mills on 1000 looms each in East Bengal. For materialising this gigantic task and in order to combine the facilities of river, road and rail communications with the jute growing areas, the whole of East Bengal was surveyed and explored. Finally, Siddhirganj was found to be the most ideal site where all other facilities existed, except road and rail, which the government agreed to provide. For implementation of this project it required a large piece of land. However, the land measuring 300 acres were acquired on the 7th March, 1950 but it needed extensive development. The land had to be raised to an average level of 9 feet. before construction could be started to this effect. On the 10th March 1950, Mr. Abdul Wahid Adamjee, son of Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood and Chairman of the Adamjee Jute Mills, dug the first sod. Thus, it opened a new era in the history of Jute Industry of East Bengal. Production phases The construction of the mills taken up by stages. Mill No-1 was completed and started partial production on the 21st December, 1951 and reached its full capacity in early 1952. The mills was inaugurated by Mr. Liakat Ali Khan, the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. Mill No-2 started its partial production on the 21st December, 1952. Mill No-3 went on partial production on the 16th September, 1955. Initial investment The Adamjee Jute Mills had an approved capital of Tk. 7.5 crore which was ultimately raised to Tk. 9 crore by floating public shares amounting to Tk. 1.25 crore. Management of AJM The Adamjee Jute Mills started its functioning as an outcome of sponsorship by the than PIDC. Mr. Adamjee and his sons also known later as Adamjee and brothers were the operating Directors, where A.W. Adamjee had acted as Chairman while Mr, Gul Mohammad Adamjee and Mr. Zakaria Adamjee were Directors, The other members of the family were assigned to look after the other sister concerns of the group as, Executive Director, General Manager, the key personnel in the operational aspects. Mr. Abdul Currim Karawadia of Bombay, India was the first General Manager of the AJM, who served for a pretty long time. After the liberation in 1971, he had to face an odd situation and was forced to leave Bangladesh. He left for India and he was given a higher responsibility as chairman of the Indian Jute Board in 1973. After the departure of Mr. A. Currim, M.A. Awal, a former student leader was assigned as the Executive Director. Subsequently, Mr. Mazharul Quddus, Mr. Mir Jamaluddin, Mr. Enamul Karim held this position. Sister concerns of AJM Adamjee Group had at least 16 units of industry in East Bengal. Apart from this, they had got Directorship with many other organisations. The organisations owned by this group or got directorship at different times are as under: 1. Adamjee Jute Mills Ltd 2. Adamjee Cotton Mills 3. National Tubes 4. Bangladesh Textile Mills 5. Dhaka Vegetable Oil Mills 6. National Tea 7. Aroma Tea 8. Star Particle Boards 9. Broadloom unit 10. Central Workshop 11. Adamjee Insurance Company 12. Muslim Commercial Bank 13. Bengal Assam Steamship Co. 14. Chittagong Steamship Co. 15. Premier Insurance Co. 16. Assam-Bengal Cement Co. Among these organisations, 9 of its units have taken loan from the Bank in the name of Admajee Jute Mills. Meantime, Bangladesh Textile Mills, Dhaka Vegetable Oil Mills, National Tubes and National Tea have been sold out but yet these companies owe to the banks as it was taken in the name of Adamjee, the parent organisation. Adamjee and the days of upsurge It could not be denying the fact that Adamjee played a vital role for the cause of establishing democratic rights of the people of East Bengal. In 1969, the workers of the mills were in the forefront while in 1971, many of its workers actively participated in the Liberation War. During the Pakistani rule, the workers of this mills were used with an ill-political motive. The Adamjee riot in 1954 was the outcome of a such a plot, which ultimately led to fall of the United Front Government in East Bengal. The then ruling authority in central government termed the Adamjee riot as the "pattern of communist strategy' where the Bengalees found it as conspiracy of the Pakistani rulers. The days of decline Before 1971, Adamjee had been running well with a margin of moderate profit. As the earnings of the sister concerns were not accumulated with the revenue of Adamjee Jute mills after independence, the revenue of the mills reduced considerably. After liberation, like other industries of non-Bengalis entrepreneurs Adamjee Jute Mills became an abandoned property and hence was nationalised. In 1972, the other 6 profitable sister concerns of Adamjee Jute Mills were also nationalised. In 1974, these 6 sister concerns were separated and this caused a cumulative loss to the mother organisation. During its operation Adamjee Jute Mills incurred a loss amounting to Tk 1200 crores for the last 31 years. In the 2000-2001 fiscal year the amount was Tk 190 crores and for the last 8 months it amounts to Tk 120 crores, according to sources. After the emergence of Bangladesh only in 1973-74 and in 1979-80, 1981-82 financial years, AJM made some profits at a narrow margin. But owing to huge amount of loss, the mills could not reach to its full capacity of production at 70 thousand metric tons per year. In the recent time, it has been reduced to 35-37 metric tons, which was only 50 per cent of the total capacity. Loss at a galance The incurring loss till 1970 was Taka 2 crore and 60 lac only. From 1971 to 1973, the amount of loss was also negligible. But it increased gradually after 1979. Year-wise losses are amounted as under. Financial year Loss in Tk 75-763 crores 3 lac 76-77 5 crores 11 lac 77-78 8 crores 34 lac 78-79 1 crores 33 lac 80-81 8 crores 60 lac 81-82 11 crores 26 lac 83-84 10 crores 11 lac 84-85 39 crores 96 lac 85-86 51 crores 85 lac 86-87 19 crores 38 lac 88-89 37 crores 19 lac 89-90 92 crores 84 lac 90-91 66 crores 51 lac 91-92 97 crores 19 lac 92-93 12 crores 79 lac 93-94 16 crores 81 lac 94-95 18 crores 3 lac 95-96 75 crores 2 lac 96-97 82 crores 84 lac 97-98 81 crores 87 lac 98-99 85 crores 82 lac 99-2000 64 crores 30 lac 2000-2001 56 crores 67 lac Status of manpower at closure At the time of closure, the status of manpower was as follows: Officers :467 Employees: 1418 Workers : 17162 (Permanent) Workers : 6103 (Badli/casual) The officers of the Adamjee Jute Mills are excluded from the golden hand shake programme. It is learnt that BJMC will provide them in the vacant positions of its different jute mills. Why this closure? The Experts have opined that the cumalitive loss over the years compelled the government to shut down the Adamjee Jute Mills. The causes of the loss are many. Mismanagement, corruption, political unrest, employment of unskilled workers, surplus manpower are the identified factors that led to the closure of Adamjee. After liberation, almost all the governments in power had to think on this, but they could not shut down, perhaps, considering the probable labour unrest that was apprehended to this effect. However, a strong political decision of this government made it possible to shut it down. Cost at closure The total estimated cost at closure is about Tk 880 crores. The head of expenditures are: Golden hand shake: 460 crores Electricity : Tk 106 crores Gas bill : Tk 42 crores Payable to Jute Agents and others: Tk 272 crores Asset and Liabilities The Adamjee Jute Mills has got an asset amounting to Tk 856 crores while its accumulated liabilities are Tk 1270 crore so far. What is next? It is not clear yet what will replace Adamjee or how its assets including lands to be utilised. One source hinted that an Industrial Estate and Export Processing Zone, in private sector, will be established in place of Adamjee Jute Mills. Its assets, including lands, machinaries, and existing infrastructures will be privatised. Meantime, demands have been raised to establish IT village in the Adamjee Premises. But the truth is that it is yet to be decided how the Adamjee complex will be utilised. Exhibition Aziz Amirul An exhibition of works, produced through a special type of metal casting procedure termed as Dhokra, is on at the art gallery of the Indian High Commission cultural center at Dhanmondi in the city. A total of 39 pieces of works by 8 Bangladeshi artists find place at the gallery those were created at a workshop in a village of Birvum district of West Bengal in India.
Mahbubur Rahman, Kabir Ahmed Chisty, Subrata Chanda, Farzana Islam Milky, Aminul Hasan, Salahuddin Khan, Kamruzzaman Swadhin and Hasanur Rahman Reaz are the eight artists who possess experience of attending the workshop in India.
Dhokra Kamar tribes are the traditional metal smiths of West Bengal. They follow a technique of metal casting known as Dhokra, named after the tribe. A look at these artifacts makes one believe that those have been created out of a single piece of wire wound around a piece of clay. But instead the object is cast in metal, using what is known as the lost-wax technique. It takes eight different stages to complete a work of Dhokra and each portion has its own special formula. Initially, the artist has to work with the primary modeling of the object one intends to make. A particular process includes a mixture of red earth, sand and chaff; while a soft mixture of wax, mustard oil and resin is used in the other type of procedure.
Evidence of this kind of casting of copper based alloys has been found in the ancient civilizations China, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, and in some areas of Central America. Often the raw material used is not pure brass as it should be, but contains miscellaneous scraps of other metals, which give it is typically antique look. Its motifs are mostly drawn from folk culture. While among the animals, the elephant is most popular, the other motifs include human heads, kings, miniature replica of measures, containers with lids, with or without locking devices, images of deities, lamps and lamp stands, the last being made in several intricate designs in shape of trees and branches with as many as a hundred lamps in one stand.
The Dhokra metal casting is perhaps the only living tradition of metal image making in Eastern India and Bengal. The technique manages to survive over centuries and change of dynasties as it owes to a modesty of application in routine lives of the common people. Today, as modernisation sets in with a drastic change of the lifestyle of tribal communities, the Dhokra metal craft gradually fades away in India. The exhibition, 'Dhokra-r daakey' at the Indian High Commission cultural center is open to all from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day till July 12.
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