“This is the first time I see something which is a true representation of MY family – the family that moved from Pakistan to a foreign land and still identifies with roots back home.” – Your average Pakistani teenager.
This is how young Pakistanis are relating to Ms. Marvel. Kamala Khan landing in Karachi, savouring Biryani from a plastic pouch, then waking up to jeans and converse in Boat Club – a place notorious for not allowing you to step into its cool air-conditioned interior if you weren’t dressed ‘right’ – many Pakistani jeans and sneakers wearing teenagers would give that one a nod. Music tracks belting out included Disco Deewaane, Pasoori, Ko Ko Korina, and Peechay Hutt and so many more ‘oh that’s so cool’ moments are making Ms. Marvel a stellar representation of a culture that exists, always, but so far, only outside of the TV and cinema screens.
Ms. Marvel just changed all that. But …
Let’s Talk A Bit About Partition And Representation In Episode 4
Kamala’s nani has a conversation with Kamala that goes something like this:
“My passport is Pakistani, and my roots are Indian. And in between is a border built with blood and pain. People are claiming their identity based on an idea some old Englishmen had, …”
Kamala’s Nani
Now while I applaud the series for capturing the devastation, plight, and sheer tragedy of 1947 – a huge shoutout to Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy for directing those final moments in Episode 4 where Kamala is catapulted on the train tracks and overhears conversations from those who are taking the train to Karachi, I had slight reservations about the scripting above.
The border was definitely built with pain, blood, loss of life, property, and an uprooting of lives and livelihoods – that’s what migration is, unfortunately, all about.
BUT, correct me if I’m wrong, the person migrating understands that extreme circumstances require extreme actions.
When Muslims demanded a separate homeland, the events leading up to the creation of Pakistan cannot and should not be simplified and relegated to the ‘ideas of some old Englishmen’. Saying that Pakistanis are ‘claiming their identity’ based on their actions, further invalidates the struggles of many, many Pakistanis who crossed the border at the risk of losing their lives and those of their loved ones in order to live, breathe and work in freedom, and to practice their religion free of persecution.
Agreed, the British had a lot to do with marking the boundaries, with categorizing areas depending on religion – Muslim-dominated and Hindu-dominated areas, in the time of the British Raj, agreed that they might have (partly) sown the seeds of dissent, in a region where Sikhs, Muslims, Christians lived in religious harmony for decades – but, they were not the reason for thrusting an identity on Pakistanis (as has been suggested in the dialogues – claiming their identity).
The words, unfortunately, dismiss the sacrifices of the millions who fought for a separate homeland and who, today, after over 70 years, live in Pakistan, owning the country as their own, with an identity of their own – owning a culture that is subtly distinct to Indian culture, yet, inevitably similar in some nuances, (as it should be because, of course, after all, they were part of the same region at one time).
But there is nothing wrong to own those similarities as well. We must not deny any part of our heritage; Indian, Afghani, or even German for that matter, they all become a part of who we are – especially and including the 70-odd years we have existed on our own. So let’s celebrate that homeland instead of finding reasons as to why it exists in the first place – it is unfortunate that the dialogue questions the very existence of the theory upon which Pakistan was created.
However, it could be said that Kamala’s nani might move towards an awakening of sorts when Ayesha, her mother, reveals more and helps sort out the confusion in her mind (and hence, the identity crisis too). I hope that is where the narrative is moving towards because it is important to fit in the puzzle pieces and view the whole – the nation and its idea in its entirety for what it is – a need for people to live freely and the answering of that need in the form of a separate homeland.
Time To Move On
Lastly, it is perhaps imperative that we move beyond partition now and think of how we can go forward. Visa-free corridors and borderless or lightly manned borders can help nurture cultural, economic, religious, and ethnic exchange – isn’t that what people all over Europe do? And it’s not like it hasn’t been the bloodiest region in history, but they have moved on and so can we.
This is what civilization means – to learn to celebrate our differences and recognize commonalities – to collaborate on pressure points and turn them into positives – the Kartarpur corridor is one such example and many more like-minded initiatives will help cement the future of two nations that are, unfortunately still living in 1947 – especially at a time when their youth want to move ahead!
There is no doubt that this period in history was one that has left its mark on the hearts and minds of all those who lived through it. Which is why, a healing of sorts needs to be initiated, but that healing would mean moving forward, beyond the bloodshed and questions, and showing present and future generations that we are capable of … love, acceptance, and tolerance!
Ms. Marvel you have done a fabulous job in aptly representing an identity that has often suffered from skewed narratives – you are ticking all the boxes, so don’t miss out on this one! Awaiting Fawad Khan’s entry in Episode 5 (if Twitter’s got it right) and that, is another superpower that will add considerably to the raving popularity of Kamala Khan!
