Country’s first animated series creates ‘Burka Dhamaka’

Politicians, judiciary, GHQ and the media can all take a back seat as Sundays are now all about Geo TV and a caped superwoman, kicking some serious ass, but her style is Pakistani. The country’s first animated series creating a ‘Burka Dhamaka’, has hit television channels nationwide, where a black ‘Burka’ clad school teacher with black nail polish is the new Super Girl, but Pakistani style.

A heroine who is “lean, mean, covered from head to toes, with her eyes visible so she can give you the look, and lay the smack down on all these dirty killers and crooks,” says the accompanying theme song, where after the Malala Yousufzai saga, it appeared to be an exercise in ‘life-imitating art’.

‘Burka Avenger’, a black nail-polished cartoon superhero clad in a ‘burqa’, who fights evil — yes, especially those ranged against female empowerment and education — by means of airborne martial arts, and uses books and pens as weapons, has hit television screens. She’s a heroine who is “lean, mean, covered from her head to her toes, with her eyes visible so she can give you the look, and lay the smack down on all these dirty killers and crooks,” says the accompanying theme song by pop singer Aaron Haroon Rashid, whose brainchild the animation series is.

Jiya is a kind, albeit ordinary schoolteacher by day, but as darkness falls she dons a black ‘burqa’ and takes on the village baddies who frown at female education with her bagful of tomes and acrobatic tricks. Fighting her is Talibanesque villain Baba Bandook and corrupt mayor Vadero-Pajero. Helping her are her adorable students Ashu, Immu, their best friend Mooli and his cute goat Gohu. Inspired by Malala Yousufzai, as girls’ education in conflict-ridden, conservative nations becomes a global cause celebre, it seems ‘Burka Avenger’ has imitated life. Or has it?

“Although I greatly admire Malala, the answer is, surprisingly for many, no! It was in 2010 that I decided I wanted to produce and direct a movie in Pakistan. I shortlisted some ideas with local themes and one of them was about a ‘burqa’-clad woman who protects a girls’ school from extremists trying to shut it down. Stories about girls’ schools being shut down by the Taliban were in the news and I was disturbed by them,” Haroon tells ‘The News’.

Next year, Haroon worked with a game development team and developed the ‘Burka Avenger’ iPhone game, where Jiya throws books, pens and schoolbags as weapons to protect the school against the attackers. “Around September 2011, I created a three-minute animation along with team-members that had a back story to the ‘Burka Avenger’ game. That is when it hit me that we could do a whole animated TV series. I assembled the animation team in early 2012 and we had the first episode (girls’ education/school shutdowns) ready by May 2012. When Malala was attacked by the Taliban in October 2012, our whole team was stunned. This seemed to be a case of life imitating art. For me, this reinforced the importance of addressing this issue,” he explains.

By February 2013, 13 episodes were ready and Haroon entered into a contract with Geo TV to launch the series.

After its premiere, the first Pakistani animation superhero is a talking point — it has mostly won hearts, but also generated controversy and debate, especially on the social media. The point of contention was the ‘Burka Avenger’s’ eponymous garb during the action-the all-covering costume, a symbol of oppression and segregation of women for many modern Pakistanis. Many women were horrified that girls were being asked to infer that the ‘burqa’ emancipated you to fight for your rights. Some even feared that it might become fashionable.

Diplomats plunged right into the discourse. “A ‘dupatta’ could have done the job,” opined the stylish, ‘dupatta’-clad former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, on Twitter. “Why not Dupatta Dhamaka, which is more in keeping with who we are?” Tweeted New York Times writer Huma Yusuf. “Is it right to take the ‘burqa’ and make it look ‘cool’ for children, to brainwash girls into thinking that a ‘burqa’ gives you power instead of taking it away from you?” asked novelist and commentator Bina Shah on her blog.

However, Ema Anis from a Karachi daily, whose mother wears the ‘burqa’, thought otherwise. “Condemning (the dress of) ‘Burka Avenger’ does not make anyone cool and liberal. I highly doubt that any girl will feel compelled to wear a ‘burqa’ after watching a cartoon character that wears one. Point is, she’s fighting all the bad men — the Vadero-Pajeros. Appreciate that,” wrote Anis.

Haroon agrees, and shrugs aside accusations that the ‘burqa’ is a sign of suppression. “It certainly is, in parts of the world but not here in Pakistan. Women are not compelled to wear the ‘burqa’ or ‘abaya’ or headscarf as they are in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Some women do choose to wear the ‘burqa’ or ‘hijab’ out of choice in Pakistan. Jiya is a schoolteacher who does not wear the ‘burqa’ in her daily life. She only wears it to hide her identity, like every superhero does with his or her costume, not because she is oppressed,” Haroon explains.

But once the series reaches international screens, does it hope to send a message to the West, where ‘burqas’ and the Taliban are equally popular bogeys? “Absolutely! Some of the steps, like banning ‘hijabs’ in schools, just smacks of discrimination. Everyone should have a right to dress as they choose whether it be as a punk rocker, in a mini skirt or a ‘hijab’,” responds Haroon.

Interestingly, in Pakistan, the black ‘burqa’ is seen more in Karachi, where Urdu-speaking migrants from India have traditionally worn it. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, they wear the more voluminous ones in white, with Afghan women wearing them in light blue. Many others wear the chador, a variant.

A few years ago, Islamabad’s streets resounded to the agitation of the ‘Burqa Brigade’— groups of baton-wielding female students from the Lal Masjid dressed in black ‘burqas’ who were given the sobriquet ‘chicks with sticks’. They were opposing General Musharraf’s security apparatus when he sent commandos to flush out militants hiding in the mosque in July 2007.

Though he acknowledges the discomfort about the Avenger’s attire in some quarters, Haroon is also fatigued by it all. Instead, he points out how “each episode addresses relevant social issues in Pakistan, such as female education, child labour, discrimination, protecting the environment, but is presented as entertainment — full of action, comedy, adventure and fun.”

With militancy growing by the day, most methods failing to bring extremism to an end, does the answer lie in a brigade of ‘Burka Avengers’? At least this is what Jaya promises.

“A spirit so quick to deliver a beating To the enemies of peace, love, logic and reason

Yeah - hit ‘em with a logical reason,” are the lyrics of the theme song sung by Haroon and Adil Omer.

The only thing that Haroon is not giving away is whether ‘peace, love and reason’ will finally prevail and Jiya will hang up her ‘burqa’ at the end of the series.