Burka Avenger Cartoon

[Janie Mccorey]

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

"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."

"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."

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 that 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 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.

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.

NEW DELHI, April 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A female cartoon superhero who dons a burka to tackle crimes against girls and other social ills is bringing her message of women's empowerment to India, the creator of the Pakistani children's series said.

The Emmy-nominated "Burka Avenger" series started in Pakistan in August 2013 and has since launched in Afghanistan, winning global accolades including the Peabody Award, International Gender Equity Prize and Asian Media Award.

Its main protagonist, a teacher called Jiya - who tackles everything from the ban on girls going to school, to child labour to environmental degradation - was named as one of the most influential fictional characters of 2013 by Time magazine.

Media pundits say the series immediately struck a chord in Pakistan where Taliban militants have prevented thousands of girls from going to school and attacked activists campaigning for their education.

The issue grabbed the world's attention in October 2012 when child rights activist and Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai was shot and badly injured by militants who boarded her school bus in northwest Pakistan.

Commentators say the ironic symbolism in the cartoon - where the burka, often seen as a form of subjugation is used as a form of empowerment, and that Jiya uses books and pens as projectile weapons - is a creative way of capturing viewers' attention.

"'Burka Avenger' is an amazing show - both in terms of quality of animation as well as storytelling. We are always on the lookout for shows with themes that are relevant to Indian children and we are very fortunate that we have this show," said Bhosle.

A 2014 World Bank report said that excess female child mortality, or the greater rate at which girls die compared to boys, is higher in the region than anywhere else in the world. (Reporting by Nita Bhalla; editing by Alex Whiting)

She is completely covered. Only her eyes and fingers can be seen. The rest of her body is hidden behind a black burka. Jiya, as the heroine is called, only wears her burka during fighting scenes, using her superpowers to fight evil in Pakistan. She doesn't use weapons, but books and pencils instead.

The TV series is comprised of 13 episodes, each of which is 22 minutes long. They focus on the story of the heroine, who is a teacher by day, and also on three young school children from the imaginary city of Hawalpur.

The decision to have the main character of the cartoon wear a piece of clothing common among conservative Muslim women in Pakistan and Afghanistan has not been well received. Some people see the outfit as a symbol of oppression against women.

"In the West, the burka is seen as having a very strong symbolic value. So people are taken aback by it at first," said Sabine Schiffer who works at the Media Responsibility Institute in Erlangen, Germany. "But the heroine in this story does not fit with all the clichs. She shows a great amount of strength while fighting injustice."

In the animated series, the burka looks more like a ninja outfit than traditional one. "She only wears it to conceal her identity. Just like other superheroes," explains Rashid. Aside from that, he said, it gives the cartoon a touch of local spice.

The topics of the show vary. Sometimes they are about environmental protection, other times about minority rights. It is critical about Pakistani society but packed into an entertaining show for kids. There are no brutal fighting scenes - it is more dialogue-based. In one episode, for example, a magician builds a robot, which is supposed to take over the world. For this, the magician has to send the robot around the world. But his plan fails when his visa application for the EU is rejected.

In the first episode, which was broadcast on Sunday, July 28, a school in a village is to be closed. But the Burka Avenger is able to prevent this from happening. This is a conflict which Pakistanis are all too familiar with. The Taliban have destroyed hundreds of schools in the past because they reject education for women and girls. The show reminds one of the Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai, who in October, 2012, was nearly killed in a shooting carried out by extremists while on her way to school. Malala has spoken out publicly against the Taliban and criticized their values. She has also become active in promoting education for girls.

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