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The Tibetan Refugee Handlooms Association Market Tibetans in Gurugram continues to be a one-stop destination for winter wears for over three decades where Tibetans living across the country converge to make good business.
The report mentions that since 2005 the sweater market has been expanding rapidly although the trade had started in the 1980s. Currently, there are 91 shops owned by Tibetans belonging form Dharamshala, Dehradun, Shimla, Bylakuppe, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh. These refugee traders from Tibet are majorly dependent upon the sweater-selling trade. As most of them either involve in petty trades during the rest of the year or remain economically inactive except for this trade window between October to February. The report by Tibet Rights Collective (TRC) a Delhi-based advocacy and policy research institute for Tibet claimed. These traders belong to different walks of life and are involved in the trade of sweater selling at the Tibetan Refugee market. An Army Veteran from Rajpur, Dehradun, Kelsang Namgyal la spoke proudly about his daughter, pursuing higher studies in pharmacy in the United States. His son, who is serving in the army for the last 15 years. He asked us to study hard and work towards building a promising future ahead, according to the report. Most of the traders involved in the trade are women and these traders also employ local Indians as helpers which also creates employment opportunities for the locals. Although there are some problems that these traders face in their business. For example, their margins are affected by weather conditions, fear of losing their garments and money to thieves, and they are also worried about damage caused due to incidents of fire. There have been a few cases of fire in recent years, according to the TRC report. Although the pandemic has affected their trade. A significant part of their customers have shifted to online shopping rather than coming to market after the Covid-19 pandemic. In the past, there have been incidents of fear of losing their garments and money to thieves, and they are also worried about damage caused due to incidents of fire. Another young Tibetan trader from Dehradun, Ngawang told the Tibet Rights Collective that "We are a group of people whose ancestors went through and handled the trauma of being driven away from our land. His Holiness and his prayers and our Buddhist selves have taught us to be compassionate, tolerant, and patient" which sets a rather positive hope. (ANI)
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