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Karakul Hats
and
animal rights |
By A. Khan
afghanarticle@hotmail.com |
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September 10,
2007
Researches have revealed that the karakul breeds of sheep came to
Afghanistan from central Asia. However, it is a widely held view that it has
been in use for centuries in Afghanistan, which had dominated the Afghan market
until late 1970s. At that time, most high-ranking government officials,
businessmen, and some tribal elders used to wear karakul hats. In some weddings,
grooms’ outfits were deemed incomplete without wearing karakul hats. However,
the karakul hats business and wearing confronted a major setback when the
country was engulfed in conflict in 1970s, as most Afghans took refuge in the
neighboring countries, i. e. Pakistan, Iran, and elsewhere where the use of
these hats was rare. |
 In
Afghanistan, karakul hats
were revived when president Karzai was elected as the chairman of the
interim administration, which was agreed upon at the Bonn Talks,
following the defeat of Taliban. Karakul hats, once forgotten headwear,
found their ways into the market. Afghans, who had kept their hats in
wardrobes, dusted their tatty hats, and started to wear them again
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In Pakistan, some religious leaders, as well as Qawali singers still
wear karakul hats as a sign of religious nobility. Among the prominent
Pakistan leaders who used to wear and are still wearing karakul hates
are: Qaide-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah (late), the former president of
Pakistan, Rafiq Tarar and Qazi Hussein Ahmad, religious leader, just to
name a few. As per BBC, in India too former Prime Minister Vishwanath
Pratap Singh wore one too before Ms Gandhi, who was environment minister
in his cabinet between 1989 and 1990, asked him not to. "I was not aware
of how it was made. I thought this to be like other fur caps," he said.
"When I was told how it was made, I switched over to synthetic and since
then I have been wearing a synthetic hat," he said.
In the world of fur fashion, garments made of the pelts of fetal and newborn
karakul have gained great popularity in recent years. Hodgepodges of names are
used to describe this fur in the skin trade. Fur from fetal karakul lambs is
called: broadtail, or cha (Russian, Uzbek). The fur from newborn karakul sheep
is called: karakul (also spelled caracul), astrakhan (Russian), Persian lab, and
krimmer (Russian). Sometimes the terms for fetal lamb and newborn fur are used
interchangeably. |
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In Afghanistan, karakul hats were revived when president Karzai
was elected as the chairman of the interim administration, which was agreed upon
at the Bonn Talks, following defeat of Taliban. Karakul hats, once forgotten
headwear, found their ways into the market. Afghans, who had kept their hats in
wardrobes, dusted their tatty hats, and started to wear them again. At those
days, wearing of these hats fuelled a strong hope of peace and stability
returning into the war-ravaged country.
According to Mr. Marc W. Herlod
of the Departments of Economic and Women’s Studies at the University of New
Hampshire, besides being a known and compliant asset of the West, Hamid Karzai
could be marketed to the general public as a man of taste, chic, and
aristocratic heritage. Within a month after the Taliban had abandoned Kandahar,
the western press was promoting Afghanistan's "Mr. Chic."
Karzai was said by the
poised BBC
to have, broken new sartorial ground by marrying classic tailoring with ethnic
fashions, in a combination which may breathe new like into the way leaders dress
around the world. Mr. Karzai has a knack for combining classic and ethnic. One
of his trademarks is to layer Nehru-collar shirts, waistcoat and jacket. He is
also well known for sporting Astrakhan hats...
The
Washington Post's
congenitally snippy Style Section went furthest in falling all over itself, when
writer Robin Givhan wrote breathlessly of Karzai that "there is a lot of
Hollywood" in the man. "Many are captivated by his signature hat and his
billowing cloaks in vivid shades of emerald green or exuberant ribbon stripes,"
she went on. "They like his flowing shirt with its banded collar.
Karzai has the
natural sex appeal of a Sean Connery rather than the situational sex appeal of,
oh, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Karzai is an alpha male with a
peacock's flamboyance. Might other men follow? Designers can only dream.
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Despite all these
glittering remarks, animal right groups have hugely criticized the brutal
methods used in slaughtering of karakul animals. The Investigative Services
Section of the Humane Society of the United Sates (HSUS) was appalled by the
crude and inhumane methods used to kill these animals. According to HSUS,
workers showed no knowledge of humane slaughter techniques, nor any concept of
the suffering of these animals. Investigators also learned from their hosts
that, contrary to popular belief, karakul and broadtail fur are not a by-product
of the meat industry. What remains of these tiny animals after they are
slaughtered and skinned is thrown away. |
Dogs, cats and
other insects like snakes, scorpions, cockroaches, frogs, lizards, etc roam
freely in gardens and in open spaces, while the guests are asleep. If the guest,
who wears the hat, is clever enough, he asks the host to put his hat in a safe
place inside the house in order to avoid theft by dogs and cats.
A villager, who
had purchased an expensive nice and silky hat, was in trouble one night. To his
misfortune, he decided to sleep in open space. |
These animals are raised for fur not for
food. “The main value of Bukhara sheep is fur and hides…. The demand for [this]
is high in both domestic and foreign markets due to its high quality and
durability, its silky and bright nature…” A karakul or Persian lamb coat retails
at from $5,000 to $12,000.
The Indian animal rights group People for Animals points out that
the hat is made from the fleece of a lamb. And the traditional method of
producing the fleece is barbaric. The karakul wool is made by beating a pregnant
ewe till it aborts," said Maneka Gandhi, Indian Minister for Social Justice, who
also heads People for Animals. "As soon as it aborts, the lamb that comes out
has very curly tight hair. "The lamb's skin remains curly and tight for the
first 24 hours of its life. While still alive, the lamb's skin is stripped off
and made into a cap. "The mother which is forced to abort also dies," she said.
Contrary to all
these factual accounts, president Karzai says he wears the hats because they are
“very, very Afghan” and look good. He is being criticized by animal advocates
for wearing karakul hats, which are made with the downy fur of aborted lamb
fetuses. Karzai’s former Culture and Information Minister Abdurahim Mokhdoom
acknowledged that the process of obtaining the fur is a cruel one as the mother
is beaten in order to cause her to abort. However, he defended the practice by
saying that karakul hats are part of Afghanistan's cultural heritage. "As far
back as you look, Afghans have been wearing them," said Makhdoom. |
In addition to
being a symbol of nobility, there are several interesting stories attached to
the use of these hats. For example, the pelt is much attractive to both dogs and
cats whose smelling can easily locate them if they are not properly taken care
of. In eastern Afghanistan, during summer hot season, the villagers and their
guests normally sleep in open space such as in gardens, fields.
Dogs, cats and
other insects like snakes, scorpions, cockroaches, frogs, lizards, etc roam
freely in gardens and in open spaces, while the guests are asleep. If the guest,
who wears the hat, is clever enough, he asks the host to put his hat in a safe
place inside the house in order to avoid theft by dogs and cats. A villager, who
had purchased an expensive nice and silky hat, was in trouble one night. To his
misfortune, he decided to sleep in open space. He took off his hat and placed it
close to his bed, the following morning he found his hat torn into several
pieces next to his bed.
The high price hats
are equally attractive to the thieves as well, particularly the pickpockets,
operative in the major cities of Afghanistan. Once in bustling and overcrowded
bazaar in Kabul, two pickpockets eyed a potential hat, which, if it reached
their hands, could make thousands of Afghanis for them. How to steal the hat
from the head of the person was also a difficult job that required a mastery
tactic. One of the partners had a worn & torn hat too. They moved towards the
prey, one partner made an intentional head-on collusion with the prey, forcing
him to bend down, thus making the hat fell off his head. As soon as the hat fell
down, the second partner rushed to rescue him, and during rescue operation, the
thief swapped the hats. Thus decamping away with the nice one. |
Despite an overall
reduction in broadtail and karakul production since the 1970s, anti-fur
activists still have reason for alarm. The widespread popularity of this fur may
indicatean upswing in its production. The public has been misled to believe that this
fur is entirely a by-product of the meat industry. In reality these animals are
killed for fashion not food.
This investigation documents the suffering,
inhumane slaughter, and waste of lives behind broadtail and karakul fashions. It
is hoped that this investigation will convince retailers and caring consumers
that the slaughter of these farmed animals is every as cruel, grotesque, and
inexcusable as that of any other fur-bearing animals.
I fully agree with
the conclusion of HSUS and other animal right groups on the inhumane
slaughtering of karakul animals. I strongly hope that this will convince our
president to refrain from wearing such cruel hat. Our religion and culture don’t
allow such brutal practice. I totally disagree with former Cultural and
Information Minister, who have dubbed karakul as cultural heritage.
Afghans will
never term a cruel business such as this one as their cultural heritage.
However, the economic aspect of this mercantile has pushed some barbaric farmers
and traders to promote this cruel practice. I don’t know as to
why our president’s sober statesmanship and sound judgment have allowed him to
wear such a cruel hat. Again, he is earnestly requested to refrain from wearing
it anymore.
Instead, he can learn from the experience of the former Indian
Prime Minister,
Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who switched from karakul to synthetic. Doing so would
not only save his face in the wake of wider condemnation by the animal right
groups, but also his image as Mr. Chic. And/or he may switch to another
traditional headwear: the turban. |
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