Entertainment / ‘Burka Avengers’ Pakistan’s First Female Super Hero

‘Burka Avengers’ Pakistan’s First Female Super Hero

Entertainment Jul 26, 2013

by Anokhi Admin

Pakistan’s First Ever New Animated Super hero ‘Burka Avenger’ Fights For Women’s Education.

Aaron Haroon Rashid , one of Pakistan’s well-known and popular pop stars – and known simply as Haroon – conceived this Urdu language show to emphasise the importance of girl’s education. This show will also discuss many issues that are important to teach children about protecting the environment and not discriminating against others.

The Burka Avenger is a mild-mannered woman, Jiya, who is a mild mannered teacher with strong (and secret) martial art skills who uses her flowing burka to protect her girl’s school from enemies who threatened the shut it down. Scheduled to start running in early August on Geo TV, the action in this cartoon series is humorous and light-hearted where the villains in the show create more laughter than fear. The burka Avenger is the first ever South Asian desi ninja woman who fights and protects her school using books and pens as weapons.

Aaron Haroon Rashid via Straits Times

“Each one of our episodes is entered around a moral, which sends out strong social messages to kids. But it is cloaked in pure entertainment, laughter, action and adventure.” Rashid told in an interview with Huffingtonpost.

The series is set in the fictional town of Hawalpur, nestled in the mountains and valleys of northern Pakistan. Jiya is the adopted daughter of Kabbadi Jaan, who has taught her the karate moves that she can use to defend against her enemies. As Jiya, she does not wear a burka and is clad in a less conservative head scarf over her hair. One of the main villain’s in the show is Vadero Pajero , a corrupt politician, who threatens to shut down the girls’ school in Hawalpur so he can use the donations made by the charity for personal reasons and prevent development. To further his cause, he finds support in Bandook – a member of the Taliban – a willing accomplice who embodies the value systems and beliefs of the conservative Islamic Pakistan.

As a super hero, Jiya wears a flying burka – a much-contested and controversial garb – that may raise eyebrows around the world as it is sometimes misunderstood as a sign of oppression. It was in the 1990s when Taliban occupied Afghanistan and enforced the wear of burka. You can also see the hands and fingers but its designed to be more fluid and more ninja-like, if you will than the typical burkas. The burka was also chosen to give the audiences a local feel to the show especially since it is the first animated show to be produced in Pakistan.

Jiya as the burka Avenger via Facebook

Haroon said in an interview that the decision for her to wear a burka was used purely as a cloak to conceal Jiya’s true identity. He said, “It is not a sign of oppression. She is using the burka to hide her identity like other super heroes. 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.”

Malala Yousafzai with UN Secretary General Bang-Ki Moon (AFP/Getty Images)

The new series does mirror the lived realities of girls such as Malala Yousafzai who have been part of schools in Northwest Pakistan, which the Taliban blown up hundreds of school and threatened to kill activists. Yousafzai currently writes a blog with detailed accounts of these atrocities and earlier this month, she marked her 16^th birthday with a UN address highlight and underlying this gnawing problem.

_{Feature Image: burka Avenger/Facebook

Source: metro.co.uk, cbs.new.com, huffingtonpost.co.uk, and burkaavenger.com}

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‘Burka Avengers’ Pakistan’s First Female Super Hero

by Anokhi Admin

Pakistan’s First Ever New Animated Super hero ‘Burka Avenger’ Fights For Women’s Education.

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