Comoros’ Prized Muslim Headgear Undercut by Chinese Copies 

Muslim men talk to each other after performing the Friday prayer at the Badjanani Mosque in Moroni, on January 12, 2024. (AFP)
Muslim men talk to each other after performing the Friday prayer at the Badjanani Mosque in Moroni, on January 12, 2024. (AFP)
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Comoros’ Prized Muslim Headgear Undercut by Chinese Copies 

Muslim men talk to each other after performing the Friday prayer at the Badjanani Mosque in Moroni, on January 12, 2024. (AFP)
Muslim men talk to each other after performing the Friday prayer at the Badjanani Mosque in Moroni, on January 12, 2024. (AFP)

In the markets of the Comoros, the hand-embroidered kofia that is essential headwear for men and boys at Eid celebrations this month is facing fierce competition from much cheaper Chinese versions.

The authentic kofia -- which often feature delicately embroidered Arabic calligraphy in silk thread -- can cost up to 400 euros ($432) each.

A "made in China" version goes for about 12 euros -- and even that is negotiable, vendor Hassanati Idjabou tells a customer at the bustling Volovolo market in Moroni, capital of the Muslim-majority archipelago of 870,000 people.

"The main attraction is the price," admits the customer, Said Mohamed, a plumber who is shopping for kofia for his two sons ahead of Eid at the end of the month.

"Handmade kofia are more beautiful but they are excessively expensive, especially for carefree children who don't appreciate their value," he says, walking away with his purchase.

The average salary in these Indian Ocean islands is below 200 euros a month but nearly half the population is on the poverty line, living on just over 100 euros a month, according to national statistics.

Three years ago, Idjabou's stand was raided by police combating forgery. "I was arrested for several hours by the national police and my stock of kofia was confiscated for a few days," the frail vendor says.

But today the policemen patrolling a few meters from her stall are indifferent to the counterfeit products.

Idjabou does not think the cheaper versions she sells will undercut the future of the authentic version so cherished on these islands and nearby countries.

"Traditional kofia will not disappear for one simple reason: no one would dream of sending a counterfeit kofia to a man about to marry their daughter," she says.

Another advantage of the Chinese version: they are unlikely to get stolen, says Mohamed Ali Mgomri, who also owns one. "Nobody's going to want to steal something that costs 15 euros," he says.

- 'Killing our craft' -

In the Comoros, kofia are only worn by males but almost exclusively embroidered by women in work that is slow and painstaking.

In the seaside town of Mitsamiouli, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Moroni, long-time kofia creator Chifayi Mwasi opens the heavy, ornate door of her house at the entrance of the medina.

"They're killing our craft," says Mwasi, who is in her seventies and has been sewing kofia since she was 11 years old.

"They take photos of our models and go to China to produce them in industrial quantities," she says.

In the middle of the living room is an antiquated black-and-gold sewing machine.

"It's over 50 years old, it is hardy," laughs Mwasi. Her right foot, resting on a cushion, gently presses the pedal in a regular rhythm.

"Electric sewing machines are far too fast for crafting a kofia," she says. Mwasi designs the patterns that are later embroidered on to the kofia by other women, such as Maissara Mhadjou.

"Making a kofia takes me at least two months and I am paid 150 euros ($162)," says Mhadjou, whose swollen fingers run over and over an intricate stitch.

"Our heritage won't just disappear," she says. "Chinese kofia aren't ugly, but they're no match for hand-embroidered ones."

But anthropologist Abderemane Wadjih, who is wearing a handmade version on his head, believes "the Chinese invasion represents a cultural threat" to an item that is precious to the Comoros identity.

The Comoros has to nurture the age-old mother to daughter transfer of the art and craft of creating kofia while also considering how to make more affordable versions, says the government's director of culture, Wahida Hassani.

"We have to do our utmost to ensure that this transmission continues, whether through formal or non-formal education," she says. "Preventing the Chinese from proliferating the kofia -- that is not one of my abilities."



Trump Says Columbus Day Will Now Just Be Columbus Day 

President Joe Biden hands a pen to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland as he signs a proclamation on the North Lawn at the White House in Washington, Oct. 8, 2021. (AP)
President Joe Biden hands a pen to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland as he signs a proclamation on the North Lawn at the White House in Washington, Oct. 8, 2021. (AP)
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Trump Says Columbus Day Will Now Just Be Columbus Day 

President Joe Biden hands a pen to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland as he signs a proclamation on the North Lawn at the White House in Washington, Oct. 8, 2021. (AP)
President Joe Biden hands a pen to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland as he signs a proclamation on the North Lawn at the White House in Washington, Oct. 8, 2021. (AP)

President Donald Trump made clear Sunday that he would not follow his predecessor's practice of recognizing Indigenous Peoples Day alongside Columbus Day in October, accusing Democrats of denigrating the explorer's legacy as he pressed his campaign to restore what he argues are traditional American icons.

Democrat Joe Biden was the first president to mark Indigenous Peoples Day, issuing a proclamation in 2021 that celebrated “the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples” and recognize “their inherent sovereignty.”

The proclamation noted that America “was conceived on a promise of equality and opportunity for all people” but that promise “we have never fully lived up to. That is especially true when it comes to upholding the rights and dignity of the Indigenous people who were here long before colonization of the Americas began.”

Trump on Sunday used a social media post to declare, “I'm bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes.” He said on his Truth Social site that “the Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much.”

The federal holiday, the second Monday in October, was still known as Columbus Day during Biden's term, but also as Indigenous Peoples Day. That's been a longtime goal of activists who wanted to shift the focus from commemorating Columbus' navigation to the Americas to his and his successors' exploitation of the indigenous people he encountered there.

Though Trump has long objected to telling the country's history through a lens of diversity and oppression, the holiday he seeks to restore to its primacy was added to the calendar as a nod to the country's growing diversity.

Columbus’ expeditions never landed on the North American mainland, let alone any of the places that would become the 50 states. But the native of Genoa became increasingly commemorated in the United States as Italian immigrants flocked to the country and politicians sought to win their support.

Indeed, it was the lynching of 11 Italian-American immigrants in New Orleans in 1891 that led to the first Columbus Day celebration in the United States, led the following year by President Benjamin Harrison. President Franklin D. Roosevelt designated Columbus Day as a national holiday in 1934.

Trump has long complained about Democrats tearing down statues of Columbus, a complaint he made again in Sunday's post. In 2017, he spoke out against a review of the 76-foot-tall statue of the explorer in New York's Columbus Circle that then-Mayor Bill de Blasio had ordered. It remains in place today, but other statues have been defaced or torn down.

In 2020, Trump's administration paid to restore a Columbus statue in Baltimore that was dumped in the harbor during protests against the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.