Srinagar, March 28: The Jammu and Kashmir government plans to oppose the ban on shahtoosh trade in the Supreme Court on behalf of the state’s artisans.

Chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed assured shahtoosh shawl-makers who met him yesterday that “his government will put up a strong front, and oppose tooth and nail the shahtoosh ban in the country’s apex court”.

The Centre had banned the manufacture, sale and possession of the highly-valued shawls following worldwide protests against the Chiru antelope being virtually brought to the brink of extinction through trade in shahtoosh wool, widely believed to be obtained from the fleece of the animal.

Wildlife activists say the Tibetan antelope was being killed by shahtoosh shawl-makers in the Himalayas.

The manufacturers dismiss the allegation as propaganda. They claim “it was only the fleece of the antelope that we were collecting without harming the animal” as killing Chirus would amount to killing “the hen that lays the golden egg”.

The chief minister yesterday directed state advocate-general Mohammad Altaf Naik to present the government’s viewpoint in the apex court, focusing on the negative impact of the ban on thousands of artisans associated with shahtoosh trade.

“It is important that the apex court is informed that no wildlife law is violated in Jammu and Kashmir for manufacturing of shahtoosh shawls,” Mufti said.