On August 13, 55-year-old Zameeruddin frowned as he watched excited people buying parrot-green flags, instead of the dark green ones stacked at his stall.
What has happened to our people? he said. We are buying Pakistani flags that were made in China. For him and fellow vexillographers, Pakistani flags made in China have not only eaten into their sales but have also ideologically upset them. No one cares that they are buying the wrong-coloured flag. The Chinese have altered our original color, and have made it brighter.
Men like Zameeruddin have been preparing green-and-white flags at their homes in Orangi for the last 25 years, taking great pains to ensure that the product retains true to the original. But now home-based workers like him in Lyari, New Karachi and Orangi are being squeezed out. Many textile factories have been undercut by the free trade. We are selling accurate flags, but its sad how people are opting for foreign-made ones, said Asim Nisar of VIP Flags.