Some people have conducted a social media campaign to urge people to boycott Chinese products in the festive season. (Picture for representation)

A social media campaign to boycott 'Made in China' goods, in a rebuttal to its continued support for Pakistan and for voting in the United Nations against Indian interests, has begun to show results. Traders at some of the biggest wholesale markets across the country have reported 10 to 20 percent fall in demand for "cheaper" Chinese wares.

The development is an indication of a nationalist sentiment sweeping the country in the aftermath of terror attack on Uri Army base and consequent surgical strikes by Indian Army in retaliation.

TRADE WAR



"If people have decided to teach China a lesson, it can have serious repercussions for the trade," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). Khandelwal said there was an unprecedented patriotic wave across the country and the market cannot remain unaffected.

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India is a huge market of Chinese items as they are cheaper. According to an estimate, the volume of Chinese goods during eight to 12 weeks ahead of festive seasons falls in the vicinity of Rs 1000 crore in Delhi alone. There are similar wholesale inventories of imports from China in all major cities of the country.

PUBLIC BOYCOTT OF 'MADE IN CHINA'



A majority of these goods include toys, fancy lights, gift items, plastic ware, decorative goods etc. "Retailers say that their customers have started asking for Indian items," said Rameshwar Goyal, a trader dealing in decorative items at Sadar Bazar, the biggest wholesale market of north India.

Goyal said he too had received messages on his phone about boycotting Chinese lights during Diwali. "I think that campaign has made a difference. People are openly talking about boycotting Chinese items," he said.

Devendra Bansal another trader in Sadar Bazar told Mail Today: "Retailers from NCR and other states come to this market to purchase items. And, there has been huge demand of Chinese items as they are cheaper. But, this time they have taken lesser amount of such items. Instead, they specifically asked for Indian items."

CAMPAIGN TRIGGERED BY FAKE LETTER



The campaign began with a fake letter which was claimed to be signed by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi which urged the Indian consumer to use swadeshi products during Diwali and repulse Chinese goods.

The fake letter was circulated all over social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and also on WhatsApp. The Prime Minister's Office, however, was quick to contest the veracity of the letter and in a tweet clarified that the document was not authentic.

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Other than this fake letter, there have been memes and images doing the rounds on the internet spreading the same message. The campaign has managed to tap into the latent anger against China, which has supported Pakistan in the past and had also blocked India's bid to join Nuclear Supplier Group.

Soon, politicians of all hues began to ask people for the boycott. BJP national secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on October 3 called for a boycott of Chinese products in protest against its role to shield Jaish-e-Mohammed head Masood Azhar from United Nations ban.

However, he had to delete his tweet some time later.

WHY THIS MOVE WORKS FOR INDIA?

Majority of traders that Mail Today spoke to agreed that such a boycott might harm the business this year but in the long run it will be good for Indian traders and industry. "Traders will have to take a call on not to import Chinese items and consumers will have to decide not to purchase these goods," said Khandelwal of CAIT.

"This will be good if people start accepting Indian goods." Several groups have initiated the campaign which include promoting sale of earthen diyas from villages on social media platforms. #BoycottChina, #BoycottChineseproducts have trended on Twitter recently. Please pledge "This Diwali we will only buy Indian, regardless of price and not Chinese," was tweeted from the handle Fearless Hindu.

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