Kerala - Thrissur   

Unveiling horrors of fanaticism

Out into the open: A scene from the satire ‘Burqavaganza,’ staged by the Ajoka Theatre from Pakistan, at the Second International Theatre Festival of Kerala, in Thrissur, on Sunday.

Thrissur: No prizes for guessing why the Pakistan government had banned Shahid Nadeem’s play, ‘Burqavaganza.’ The satire, according to the dramatist, addresses the issue of the burqa (veil) and highlights the double standards and hypocrisy of the feudal/tribal mindset.

The play was banned after its premiere in Lahore in March 2007 after members of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal argued in the National Assembly that it was against Koranic injunctions on the veil. The play was, however, enacted in Lahore later, defying the ban, and in New Delhi. It was staged by Ajoka Theatre from Pakistan at the Second International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK-2009) on Sunday.

Observers of Pakistan can read between the lines when the play refers to the terrorist leader Bin Batin, the Burqa bridage, Minister for Burqa Affairs, ‘Burqavision’ programmes on TV and a documentary, ‘Burqa Through the Ages’.

The play reminds one of an incident in Iran. On February 21, 1994, at a public square in Teheran, a woman took off her veil, poured gasoline all over her body and set herself afire. Eaten by flames, she screamed, “Death to tyranny! Long Live Freedom.” She was Homa Darabi, a doctor and political activist. Her sister, Parvin Darabi, and nephew, Romin P. Thomas, narrate the real-life story in ‘Rage Against the Veil: The Courageous Life and Death of an Islamic Dissident.’

Early this year, when French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that burquas were unwelcome in France, saying that “we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from social life, deprived of all identity,” it caused a media furore.

The dramatist repeatedly says the burqa is anti-life as it conceals a woman’s identity and effaces her self. He uses the burqa as a metaphor for the horrors of living in a land controlled by religious fundamentalists. Though the setting here is the Muslim world, the metaphor may be seen in a wider context pertaining to all religions as the play is basically against fanaticism, unjustified orthodoxy and antediluvian attitudes.

The play uses a popular format to deliver its message. It appeals for religious moderation, respect for women’s rights and gender equality.

Discussion on the aesthetic merits of the play can wait. Importantly, such a play, calling for religious and social reform, has been produced in Pakistan.

That the play has ruffled feathers shows it has achieved its goal.

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