Ruby Ghaznavi no more

Ruby Ghaznavi, a pioneer of the handicrafts movement in Bangladesh, breathed her last in Dhaka on Saturday, 14 January 2023. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun. She was 88 years old.

It was in the hands of Ruby Ghaznavi that natural dyes saw a re-birth in Bangladesh. Drawing inspiration from Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, an Indian social reformer and freedom activist, who made a significant contribution to the development of the handicrafts industry in India following its independence, Ghaznavi devoted herself to the development of handicrafts in Bangladesh.

It was in 1982 that Ruby Ghaznavi started her work with natural dyes, experimenting with only six colours. Through the years, that number kept on increasing.

In 1985, Ruby Ghaznavi, along with patua Quamrul Hassan and other like-minded individuals, established the National Crafts Council of Bangladesh for the development of Bangladeshi crafts and artisans. She was on the executive council of this organisation until she fell ill.

Her last notable contribution to the Crafts Council was in organising the Jamdani Utsav in 2018. Sonargaon got the status of "World Craft City" because of this festival.

It was through the efforts of Ghaznavi and others that Jamdani was recognised as a Geographical Indication (GI) product of Bangladesh.

In 1990, she established Aranya Crafts, a fashion house renowned for its naturally dyed products.

Ruby Ghaznavi was an Honorary Member of the World Crafts Council, and Chairperson of the National Dyes Programme of the World Crafts Council for the Asia-Pacific Region. She was also a trustee of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), and a member of the Bengal Foundation. She authored two books — Naksha and Rongin.

She was a member of Naripokkho, a women's activist organisation, a trustee of Transparency International in Bangladesh and the former Country Delegate of Terre Des Hommes, a Swiss NGO protecting child rights.

Ruby Ghaznavi was born in 1935 in Faridpur. She spent much of her childhood in Kolkata and went to the Loreto School. After coming to this country after partition, she did her Honours and Masters in Economics from Dhaka University.

Ruby Ghaznavi is survived by a son and a daughter.