Merchants in Hyderabad’s Begum Bazaar announce boycott on Chinese products

They marked their protest by smashing mosquito racquets and emergency lights.
Begum Bazaar announce of boycotting Made in China products
Begum Bazaar announce of boycotting Made in China products
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A man can be seen trashing multiple mosquito racquets, and men standing around him shouting slogans of ‘Made in India Zindabad’. With this, stores part of the Hyderabad General Merchants Association, an association of wholesale sellers, announced that they have decided to boycott goods from China. 

The association, which 800 sellers are part of, did not only break mosquito racquets but also emergency lights. 

This is in response to the violent clash between Chinese and Indian troops at the LAC, where 20 Army personnel died. 

The association members staged a protest at Begum Bazaar, one of Hyderabad’s largest trade hubs to announce their decision to boycott the products that are made in China. 

Speaking to TNM, Sriram Vyas, the president of the association, who is also the BJP’s city treasurer said, “China has thrown a challenge at us saying that we don’t have any strength, so we want everyone to show what we are capable of by boycotting their products. How can we stay quiet when they have killed 20 of our soldiers?” 

Vyas said that though he is a politician, he doesn't want his political identity to be attached to the protest. “The protest transgresses political affiliations. It has been taken in the interest of the country. It is a non-political protest.”

He added that they are businessmen and are doing “what we can for the country” in their personal capacity. 

According to Vyas, who is also a wholesale seller, the Chinese products which dominate in Begum Bazaar and other trade centres are household items, imitation jewellery, novelty and gift items and decorative items.

“We can easily replace them. India has surplus labour and there are no problems for the manufacturers, and there are a lot of consumers in the country,” he argued.      

Vyas is confident that this boycott will definitely have an impact on China’s economy. 

Goods from Begum Bazaar market go to the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra. 

“When as a wholesaler we won't supply Chinese goods, how will the retailers sell them? The entire supply chain of China will be severed,” Vyas observed. 

When asked about what they will do with their stock of unsold Chinese goods, he said that purchases from China stopped in December due to the coronavirus. “Most of the goods were already sold by March. Some goods are remaining which are about 10-20%. The association has decided not to sell them anymore. It is a negligible loss. The country is first, profit and loss will come and go in life,” he said. 

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