Burka Avenger In English

[Mariela Laflam]

Anew children's show called "Burka Avenger" premieres in Pakistan next month. It features a female superhero in a fictional northern Pakistani town, and two regular villains meant to reflect the reality in Pakistan; a corrupt government official and an evil magician styled to look and feel like a Taliban commander. The show was created by Pakistani pop star Haroon Rashid. Rashid explained the use of the burka as the costume, via the AP:

"It's not a sign of oppression. She is using the burka to hide her identity like other superheroes," said Rashid. "Since she is a woman, we could have dressed her up like Catwoman or Wonder Woman, but that probably wouldn't have worked in Pakistan."

From early August, children across Pakistan will be glued to their television sets to watch an unlikely female superhero clad not in spandex, but a head-to-toe, flowing black burka. Her name is apt: Burka Avenger.

Last year alone, some 3,600 attacks were carried out against educational institutions. And in conflict-afflicted countries, the number of primary school-aged children who are not enrolled in school surged from 42 to 50 percent since 2008. In Pakistan, nearly half of all children and three-quarters of young girls do not attend primary school.

The real name of the mysterious heroine who dons the burka is Jiya. A twist: she is in fact a teacher at the academy she seeks to save. After being separated from her parents at a young age, Jiya was taken under the wing of Kabaddi Jan, a wise old Kabaddi Master.

In actuality, the abaya and its various manifestations are increasingly becoming the go-to forms of hijab for many Pakistani women. Myself included. Even the creator of this cartoon series defends the use of the burka as the only culturally-appropriate costume for a female super hero and, I might add, one that is palatable for the people of this region. The appropriation of the burqa says a lot about how much cultural norms of veiling/modesty for women have changed in Pakistan considering that at one time the shalwar kameez duppatta combo too was a standard of modesty.

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The cartoon character has become controversial for donning a burka, part of the system of Islamic veiling that is often perceived as sexist. However, Jiya wears her burka to protect her identity, just like popular western superheroes like Batman wear masks to protect theirs.

Meet Burka Avenger: a mild-mannered teacher with secret martial arts skills who uses a flowing black burka to hide her identity as she fights local thugs seeking to shut down the girls' school where she works.

The Taliban have blown up hundreds of schools and attacked activists in Pakistan's northwest because they oppose girls' education. The militants sparked worldwide condemnation last fall when they shot Malala Yousafzai, a 15-year-old schoolgirl activist, in the head in an unsuccessful attempt to kill her.

Action in the "Burka Avenger" cartoon series, which is scheduled to start running on Geo TV in early August, is much more lighthearted. The bungling bad guys evoke more laughter than fear and are no match for the Burka Avenger, undoubtedly the first South Asian ninja who wields books and pens as weapons.

The Urdu language show is the brainchild of one of Pakistan's biggest pop stars, Aaron Haroon Rashid — known to many as simply Haroon — who conceived of it as a way to emphasize the importance of girls' education and teach children other lessons, such as protecting the environment and not discriminating against others. This last point is critical in a country where Islamist militants wage repeated attacks on religious minorities.

"Each one of our episodes is centered around a moral, which sends out strong social messages to kids," Rashid told The Associated Press in his first interview about the show. "But it is cloaked in pure entertainment, laughter, action and adventure."

The decision to clothe the superhero in a black burka — also often spelled burqa, a full-length robe commonly worn by conservative Islamic women in Pakistan and Afghanistan — could raise eyebrows because some people view the outfit as a sign of oppression. The Taliban forced women to wear burkas when they took control of Afghanistan in the 1990s.

The series is set in Halwapur, a fictional town nestled in the soaring mountains and verdant valleys of northern Pakistan. The Burka Avenger's true identity is Jiya, whose adopted father, Kabbadi Jan, taught her the karate moves she uses to defeat her enemies. When not garbed as her alter ego, Jiya does not wear a burka, or even a less conservative headscarf over her hair.

The main bad guys are Vadero Pajero, a balding, corrupt politician who wears a dollar sign-shaped gold medallion around his neck, and Baba Bandook, an evil magician with a bushy black beard and mustache who is meant to resemble a Taliban commander.

Caught in the middle are the show's main child characters: Ashu and her twin brother Immu and their best friend Mooli, who loves nothing more than munching on radishes in the company of his pet goat, Golu.

In the first episode, Pajero wants to shut down the girls' school in Halwapur so he can pocket the money a charity gave him to run it. He finds a willing accomplice in Bandook, whose beliefs echo those of the Taliban and many other men in conservative, Islamic Pakistan.

Bandook padlocks the gate of the school and orders the crowd of young girls outside to leave. Ashu steps forward to resist and delivers a defiant speech about the importance of girls' education — perhaps marking her as a future activist.

Bandook is unmoved, but the Burka Avenger appears and fights off the magician's henchmen with martial arts moves reminiscent of the movie The Matrix. Using his magical powers, Bandook disappears in a puff of smoke. The Burka Avenger hurls a flying pen that breaks open the padlock on the school's gate as the children cheer.

In one episode, Bandook builds a robot to take over the world's major cities, including London, New York and Paris. As he outlines his dastardly plan with a deep, evil laugh, one of his minions butts in and says, "But how will we get visas to go to all those places?" — a reference to how difficult it can be for Pakistanis to travel, given their country's reputation.

He leveraged his musical background in the process. Each of the 13 episodes completed so far contains songs written and performed by him and other major Pakistani rock stars, such as Ali Azmat and Ali Zafar. Rashid is producing an album of 10 songs and music videos that will be broadcast alongside the show. He has also created a Burka Avenger iPhone game and a fully interactive website that will accompany the show's launch.

In one of the music videos, Rashid and local rap star Adil Omar sing in praise of the Burka Avenger, while standing in front of a pair of colorfully decorated Pakistani trucks festooned with bright lights.

Burka Avenger is available to watch on Qalbox. New users enjoy a 7-day free trial which also gives access to the full features to the Muslim Pro app ad-free! Claim your free trial today!

In July 2013, a cartoon show from Pakistan created ripples across the animated industry by introducing a powerful female superheroine. Burka Avenger was named one of the most Influential Fictional Characters of 2013 by Time magazine and made it to the Emmy nominations. The show has won 6 international awards and has been viewed over 200 million times.

The world is rejoicing and positively welcoming the South Asian Muslim female playing Ms. Marvel in the Marvel universe. A shape-shifting super-heroine fighting evil individuals in the streets of New Jersey.

Islamophobes often mistake the burka to be a form of an oppressive garment forced upon Muslim women. Haroon has used that same burka to showcase how it is a garment of empowerment. Not only does Jiya don the burka to safeguard her identity, she convincingly uses her modest costume to fight evil.

Her mystic martial art form Takht Kabbadi does not include the use of deadly weapons. Instead, she uses pens and books to safeguard herself and foil villainous plans. She shows that education literally and metaphorically is essential and enough to overcome adversities.

A true Muslim heroine. Jiya, the Burka Avenger, deals with numerous social issues throughout the series. Standing against corrupt individuals, educating young minds, sharing a healthy relationship with her foster parents, and overcoming her childhood trauma to spread peace.

This animated series out of Pakistan stars the titular Burka Avenger, who, when not standing up for women's rights and education, is a mild-mannered schoolteacher named Miss Jiya. Orphaned at a young age, she was adopted and raised by Kabaddi Jan, who taught her the art of Takht Kabaddi, which uses school implements, like books and pens, as weapons. She wears the burka primarily to hide her identity.

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