Comic book 'Guardians' to steer young Pakistanis away from extremism

[Winchester]

Upper/middle class citizens in South Asia are disconnected from the majority. This type of action may work in the west where people have easy access to information but not in South Asia. So I think this is more like an attempt to get more publicity.

I agree with you about this having very limited or no effect but the effort is noble.

 

[Shamain]

what happened to bloody Nasreen?
View attachment 226366 View attachment 226367 View attachment 226368

Yeh kya cheez hai?

 

[rockstar08]

the Problem is with the Parents and their upbringings , majority of Pakistani people are uneducated , and Religious a deadly combination to have ... and if you add that Gun culture to it .. it creates a Societal Nuke

 

[Jf Thunder]

Yeh kya cheez hai?

bloody nasreen

 

[Zarvan]

AFP | DAWN.COM — UPDATED about 3 hours ago

ISLAMABAD: When Taliban militants stormed a school in Peshawar last December, killing 150 people, mainly children, in the country's deadliest terror attack, comic book creators Mustafa Hasnain, Gauhar Aftab and Yahya Ehsan decided it was time to act.

The trio had already been working on a series to raise awareness about the corruption that plagues Pakistan — an economically-underperforming Muslim giant of 200 million people.

But they quickly decided to shift their focus to violent extremism — and felt holding candle-light vigils was not the best way to effect change.

Hasnain, a British-educated computer graphics specialist, founded his own company Creative Frontiers in 2013, today employing 20 people, including young male and female artists, programmers and writers, in a hip Silicon Valley-style office in Lahore.

He explained: “It was a huge watershed moment for us. I got together with Gauhar and I said 'We really have to do something about this'.

“We used to stand over there (at vigils) with a candle... but we wanted to do something more.“

The result was “Paasban” — or “Guardian” — a three-part series featuring a group of close friends at college who begin to worry when one of them drops out to join a religious student group that is ostensibly working for charitable causes. Some in the group however, suspect it may have darker aims.

Fifteen thousand of the books are set to be distributed for free from June 1 at schools in Lahore, Multan and Lodhran while some copies will be made available in book stores.

The comic will also be distributed on a tailor-made app the group have developed for Apple and Android smartphones.

Personal journey
For English-language script writer Aftab, the pathway from disillusionment to signing up to carry a gun and fight the so-called enemies of Islam was not just something he had read about in the news, — it was a choice he had almost made as a child.

A product of the elite Aitchison College in Lahore, Aftab came under the influence of a charismatic teacher who convinced him at the age of 13 to leave behind his school and family to fight jihad (holy war) against the Indian army in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Eventually pulled back by a last-minute family intervention, he came to identify the methods that radicals use to attract young people to violent jihad.

“De-emphasising the virtues and values of your traditional faith, moving you towards the more minimalistic standpoint when it comes to religion, demonising various factors or forces that you feel to be threatening Islam, then (finally) glorifying the aspect of martyrdom,” he said.

By creating a storyline that features a protagonist going through these experiences, said Aftab, young people who see the same thing going on in their lives or those of their friends will be better equipped to identify and avoid the same fate.

The Urdu translation was written by renowned script-writer Amjad Islam Amjad, responsible for some of Pakistan's most popular TV shows, in an effort to ensure an audience that is as wide as possible.

Smartphone revolution
While comic-books in the US tradition often feature heroes with super-powers such as Superman, Paasban's creators decided to concentrate on creating ordinary heroes, or “Guardians” they felt the Pakistani audience would relate better to.

The art is inspired by Alphonse Mucha and Pakistani artist Abdur Rahman Chughtai, though the action is more in line with Western comics and Japanese Manga, according to creative director and co-creator Yahya Ehsan.

But what the three hope will eventually land them a sustainable revenue stream beyond the donor-funding they currently receive is a digital app they have developed that they say is the best of its kind in the world for bringing graphic novels to life on smartphones.

Also read: Pakistan joins the 3G club

The app is optimised to work on the low-end smartphones available from about $70 that have flooded the Pakistani market since the advent of 3G data connections last year, with some estimates placing smartphone penetration at 20 per cent of the country's estimated 80 million mobile users.

Users can swipe from panel to panel, with simple animations depicting new characters entering a scene, all set to a brooding background soundtrack.

Aftab, the writer, said he hoped other writers and artists would follow their lead and use the app to encourage a debate on what he calls the “real “Islam of peace which he discovered once out of the clutches of his former teacher.

“We want to promote the idea that you don't have to be secular to be non violent... What you need to be is a Muslim who rejects the violent extremist form certain groups have given to our faith,” he said.

Comic book 'Guardians' to steer young Pakistanis away from extremism - Pakistan - DAWN.COM

Some body Please put some sense in these people

 

[xyxmt]

If I may put forward my two cents, the days of reading are fading and visual consumption in the form of videos, movies and cartoons is where we are heading. In my opinion there needs to be co developed cartoons which should be run in cooperation with the cartoon network of the region through which they will reach a much larger audience.
comics are a nostalgiac tool for us but ask the children about spiderman or batman and they will recall the cartoons rather then the comics.... If cartoon network can make tops interesting for the children of today, this is a theme also.

Books are still the best medium, its always there right in front of your eyes to read it again and again, also available to underprivilaged kids, but true it should also be made available on electronic medium

 

[Dubious]

Some body Please put some sense in these people

About what?

 

[Gufi]

Books are still the best medium, its always there right in front of your eyes to read it again and again, also available to underprivilaged kids, but true it should also be made available on electronic medium

lliste n, i love to read and spent my childhood with blyton, hardy boys, asterix, archies, and have never stopped reading from then. But facts are children do not read as much now, and there is no quick way to make them start, and the message can not wait....

 

[Marium Syed]

The wish of the populace to go back to reading is one which has been attempted various times with varying degrees of success but nothing real has come of it. The thought is noble in nature but should not be left to hoping and trying new methods but using tested methods The whole concept of reaching out to the youth should not be on how we want them to get the message but how best they will get the message with least change in life style. I wish the comics the best of luck.

From reading this post and everyone else's contribution I feel that Pakistani authors are trying their damndest to send a message. I doubt that's being as educational as being manipulative to preserve a sense of morality. I don't feel its wrong to teach kids the difference in right or wrong, but older readers, (teens), deserve better. I think forcing a message is underestimating a teenagers' ability to judge and so, authors targeting teens and older audiences should focus on story telling.

(I may be wrong on judging Pakistani's, I don't live there to know much about the people).

 

[Gufi]

think forcing a message is underestimating a teenagers' ability to judge and so, authors targeting teens and older audiences should focus on story telling.

That is true, and not only is the message being promoted too obviously, but the medium is also old. Yes, there are kids who read, and you may find teenagers who read also, but it is very rare. Make it into cartoons, or a gaming app and you will see more interest without plastering the message so obviously.

 

[iPhone]

If I may put forward my two cents, the days of reading are fading and visual consumption in the form of videos, movies and cartoons is where we are heading. In my opinion there needs to be co developed cartoons which should be run in cooperation with the cartoon network of the region through which they will reach a much larger audience.
comics are a nostalgiac tool for us but ask the children about spiderman or batman and they will recall the cartoons rather then the comics.... If cartoon network can make tops interesting for the children of today, this is a theme also.

Reading is the essence of learning and is irreplaceable. What's faded recently is old the platform for reading i.e. physical books. Which have been very conveniently replaced by electronic devices to do e reading on. I flip flop between both platforms. Tablets are great to read on at night in bedroom you don't have to turn on table lamp. Actual books are great for their affordable prices and for bragging rights that yes, I have read this many books.

But reading in general has never faded. When it does it will be the end of modern civilization as we know it.