Pakistans new cartoon superhero who fights bad guys disguised in a
flowing black burka is set to go global, her creator said, with plans
afoot to broadcast the show in 60 countries.
The
Urdu-language animation Burka Avenger , showing the adventures of a
mild-mannered teacher who uses her superpowers to fight local gangsters
trying to close down the girls school where she works, hit Pakistani TV
screens last month.
The kids action-comedy
struck a chord in a country where Taliban militants have prevented
thousands of girls from going to school in the northwest and attacked
activists campaigning for their education.
The man behind Burka Avenger , pop star Haroon Rashid, said he had been overwhelmed by the response.
We
were making this little animated TV series for Pakistan but it seems
like the whole world wants to know about the Burka Avenger.
A
TV distribution company in Europe has been in touch with a view to
translating the show into 18 languages, including English and French,
and screening it in 60 countries.
The issue of
girls education in conservative, militant-plagued northwest Pakistan hit
world headlines last October when Taliban gunmen shot teenage activist
Malala Yousafzai.
Malala, who campaigns for the
right of girls to go to school, survived the attack and last month
delivered a powerful speech at the UN in New York.
Rashid
said Malala was a real life superhero for her courage and said the
attack on her had come as they prepared an early episode of Burka
Avenger .
We were all stunned because we were
working on the exact same story about a little girl who stands up to the
bad guy who tried to shut down her school, he said.
I had never heard of Malala before then -- it was like life was imitating what was on our screen while we were developing.
Nearly
half of all children in Pakistan and almost three quarters of young
girls are not enrolled in primary school, according to UN and government
statistics published late last year.