Banning Imported Gamosas

There is considerable resentment over machine-made gamosas from other States finding such a ready market in Assam, and the State government’s failure to curb what is regarded as a mece. We must ask ourselves what prevents anyone from making gamosas on machines elsewhere and selling them in Assam if people want to buy them. Why should it be regarded as an offence for people to buy machine-made gamosas and other things from Madurai and elsewhere if they are cheaper than the local products? Are our suit lengths made in Assam? They are not. Has anyone ever suggested that we should not buy suit lengths made outside Assam? Are most of the things of daily use like our cars, motorcycles, refrigerators and washing machines made in Assam? They are not. If there is no taboo on items of daily use made outside Assam, why should this taboo relating to gamosas alone put the fear of God in our minds? Many of our young friends imagine that the Assam government can impose a ban on machine-woven gamosas from outside being sold in Assam. There is no logical way of doing this in a free market economy. After all, the motor car was not the origil invention of the Japanese or the Koreans. But today Japanese and Korean cars are selling more than American or British cars. Most of the power tools that we use today were not the inventions of the Chinese. But today power tools made in Chi are being sold under American and European labels. That is how the free market economy works. There can be no prohibition on the manufacture of gamosas by anyone. It is up to us to decide whether we buy cheaper imported gamosas or what is woven in Assam.