Ruby Ghaznavi, a pioneer of the handicrafts movement in Bangladesh, passed away in Dhaka yesterday.

She was 88 years old.

It was in the hands of Ghaznavi that natural dyes saw a re-birth in Bangladesh. Drawing inspiration from Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, an Indian social reformer and freedom activist, who made a significant contribution to the development of the handicrafts industry in India following its independence, Ghaznavi devoted herself to the development of handicrafts in Bangladesh.

She started her work in 1982 with natural dyes, experimenting with only six colours. Through the years, that number kept on increasing.

In 1985, Ruby, along with patua Quamrul Hassan and other like-minded individuals, established National Crafts Council of Bangladesh for the development of Bangladeshi crafts and artisans.

She was on the executive council of this organisation until she fell ill.

Her last notable contribution to the Crafts Council was in organising the Jamdani Utsav in 2018. Sonargaon got the status of "World Craft City" because of this festival.

It was through the efforts of Ghaznavi and others that Jamdani was recognised as Geographical Indication (GI) product of Bangladesh.

In 1990, she established, Aranya Crafts, a fashion house renowned for its naturally dyed products.

Ghaznavi was an honorary member of the World Crafts Council, and chairperson of the National Dyes Programme of the Council for the Asia-Pacific Region.

She was also a trustee of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), and a member of the Bengal Foundation. She authored two books -- Naksha and Rongin.

She was also a member of Naripokkho and the former country delegate of Terre Des Hommes, a Swiss NGO protecting child rights.

Ghaznavi was born in 1935 in Faridpur. She spent much of her childhood in Kolkata and went to the Loreto School. She did her honours and master's in economics from Dhaka University.

Ghaznavi is survived by a son and daughter.