Pottery, a traditional handicraft of Jhenidah, is currently on a high, with demand peaking in the winter months.

Thousands of families have traditionally been involved in this industry as it is their ancestral profession. Nowadays, the profession has become a lucrative one. Over 900 families are engaged in making earthen jars, various types of cooking pots, pitchers, flower-tubs, flower vases, ashtrays, plates, small cauldrons, toys and various other items. They are not only earning their livelihood but are even able to flourish now.

Eighty-year-old Kalam Mia of Shitli village in Harinakundo upazila said that his whole family is working, even the elderly. Young boys and girls are helping their respective families from early morning. This is the peak time for making various types of ‘pithas’, which is why they are making earthen items like ‘sanch’ (for making ‘sanchi pithas’), ‘dhupi sanch’ (for making ‘dhupi pithas’), ‘janjhar-belna’ for making ‘muri’, ‘tawa’ for making rice bread, ‘shora’, ‘hari’ and ‘rosher-kere’ for collecting date juice, ‘gur-kere’ for selling date molasses in the market and many other kinds of items that enjoy demand only in wintertime. They sell their handmade products through vans and ‘lada-hambas’ (shallow machine-made light vehicles) in local ‘haats’ and bazaars. They also sell their products by walking to villages and urban areas. At present, they get at least Tk. 15–25 by selling a pair of products. Each day they sell some 30 to 60 pieces. As a result, they are currently leading a good life, he added.

Some potters alleged that fuel charges and the prices of clay and dies and other items necessary for the smooth operation of the industry have increased manifold and have gone beyond the purchasing capacity of the potters. They have to pass a very hard life throughout the year barring these three winter months. Sometimes they require loans, but there is no option to get a loan from a bank or any other organisation at low interest rates.

Experts and a non-government organisation’s (NGO’s) report said, in six upazilas of Jhenidah district—Harinakundu, Shoilkupa, Kotchandpur, Moheshpur, Kaliganj and Jhenidah Sadar—the pottery industry is on the verge of extinction, thanks to the hike in the prices of raw materials, deficiency in capital and lack of promotional amenities. On the other hand, the prices of and demand for their products have fallen sharply, spawning despair among the potters throughout most of the year.

Ramzan Mollah, an earthenware businessman of Sadar upazila, told The Independent that pottery products enjoy huge demand not only in local markets but also all over the country at present. But the industry never gets any support from the government or NGOs. At present, one or two trucks laden with pottery products go to Chittagong, Narayanganj, Manikganj, Gazipur, Dhaka and a few other neighbouring districts from Jhenidah district every week. “There is a huge demand for pottery products in the outside world,” he added.