Quranic Chelan) ... A racist Houthi attempt to revive the myths of the Imamate
English - Thursday 20 May 2021 الساعة 09:21 am
Sana'a, NewsYemen, private
The rise in the prices of shawls (men's headwear and shoulders) in Sana'a in particular to unprecedented levels revealed the growth of a new phenomenon of racial discrimination, which brings to mind an image of the myths of the priestly imamate, and its belief in its distinction alone and its right to wear traditional (specific) costumes alone. The rest of the Yemeni community.
Workers in the men's apparel market, in the old city of Sanaa, told (NewsYemen) that the prices of shawls and men's headscarves have jumped over the past two years to record numbers, ranging between 250 to 300,000 Yemeni riyals ($ 500), due to the quality. High and external production (India - China).
Abdul Hamid Al-Bawab, a worker in the men's clothing trade, explains the phenomenon of the high prices of this type of shawl, as it is made from the wool of rare animals in India and China, and its production costs are high. Several months.
Al-Bawab pointed out that the customers of this type of shawl are very limited, and it is almost limited to a limited community, and from those with high incomes, in light of the economic and living deterioration and the suspension of state employees' salaries since 2016, the expansion of poverty and famine, and the decline in the level of the purchasing power of the individual to the lowest level. to her.
In another store selling these outfits, Ali Ghanem talks about a second type of shawl, whose prices range between 4-10 thousand Yemeni riyals (approximately $ 10), and according to the clothing merchant Ghanem, this quality is printed on the edges in the printing press in one block (one pattern) In one color), and its production is done by machines and not manually.
Speaking to (NewsYemen), Ghanem - who is a resident of Old Sana'a - refers to a third type of shawls and head coverings, which are increasingly popular in the festive seasons, and are sold on sidewalks and public stands at prices ranging between 1,200-1,500 riyals (approximately $ 2).
Nearby from Ghanem, a friend of his commented in a sarcastic, industrial accent: “Shallan is the father of 300 thousand. By God, if it is a Quranic shilan, raised from heaven, and our sins will be relieved of what you bought with this amount,” he asks sarcastically: “Who will buy shawls at this price and are we in aggression”?
Societal fissure and class sorting
Commenting on this, the researcher and economist, Fahd Al-Maqtari, sees a growing societal gap since the last 5 years, between a limited group that is getting richer, developing assets and seizing public employment, state revenues and foreign aid, and it is the group that is able to buy first-quality shawls.
Expecting the decline of the second category with the continuation of the crises and the stopping of the salaries of state employees, "this group will gradually recede and retreat to the third category," noting in his comment to (NewsYemen) that this societal transformation, even if it appears to be an economic phenomenon, is basically based on purely racist principles and goals. The reformulation of Yemeni society before the revolution of the twenty-sixth of September 1962.
Yemeni researcher and academic Arwa Al-Khattabi believes in this context that despite the existence of racial discrimination in many peoples and human groups, this discrimination "never reaches the point of imposing a specific dress for a particular class, and it is forbidden to wear this dress by the rest of the people." Classes except in Yemen. "
Pointing out in a series of research by her, that those she described as (Talib children) - who claim to be affiliated with the House of Prophethood - did not just divide society into enveloping social classes, but rather put themselves "at the top of the social hierarchy and confiscated themselves with all the privileges, starting with titles and ending with clothes." ".
The monopoly of high cost fashion
The Yemeni researcher Al-Khattabi pointed out that these clothes are distinguished by their "luxury, richness, good design, and accuracy of inscriptions."
Noting as well as to "allocating themselves to the janabi (Yemeni daggers) tilted to the right with belts embroidered with golden threads elaborately," and their monopoly over (turbans folded with white gauze and colored roofs, with a slight exception for judges who are in the second rank. "
While confirming the Houthi militia’s attempt to revive the phenomenon of racial discrimination in men's headscarves today, Yemeni researcher Arwa Al-Khattabi mentioned that “a large number of them wear luxurious and expensive cashmere shawls,” adding: “As for the Yemeni man, he covers his head with a worn shawl or a worn-out bamboo scarf.”
