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Now coming to India: a Muslim woman comic

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: A controversial stand-up Muslim woman comedian, criticised by her community for her jokes about hijab and Muslim fundamentalism, is to make her first-ever visit to India next month at the invitation of the British Council.

But Shazia Mirza hopes her audiences in Mumbai and Pune would not ask her to repeat the same old gags about oppressed Muslim women and religious fanatics. Ms. Mirza, 30, says she is tired of being typecast as an Asian Muslim comic and wants to be recognised simply for what she is best at: telling a good joke. She is also tired of what she became famous for: taking a dig at her co-religionists.

Ms. Mirza hit the headlines as an exciting young comedian when, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, she went on the stage wearing a hijab and saying: "My name is Shazia Mirza — at least that's what it says on my pilot's licence!'' This was an allusion to the post-9/11 Islamophobia about Muslim pilots, but also a dig at Muslim plane hijackers.

"The whole point of my act is to help reduce Islamophobia in Britain. The reason it took off was that no one had really heard what it's like to be a Muslim woman here," she said.

Six years after her debut, Ms. Mirza wants to change tack. Her repertoire of jokes during her India visit would be of a different order altogether. It would be about shoplifting and her struggles with beauty aids.

"The greatest comedy transcends all religion and colours," she told The Independent.

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Now coming to India: a Muslim woman comic

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