A 1947 Ghost Train
THE
A Painting of the Partition Between India and Pakistan
WATC H L IS T
By Iman Akram
E
very year, Al Bayan staff puts together The Watch List — a play on the infamous terrorism watchlist that Muslims are regularly (and often unjustly) placed on — that highlights the recent work of Muslims in popular culture. Check out everything we’ve been watching, reading and listening to over the past year!
Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester By Eman Hamed
Photo Via Madison Square Garden
Growing up, I heard stories about my great grandfathers who helped Muslims get on the last overcrowded refugee trains going from India to Pakistan during the 1947 Partition. The railway journey should have been a symbol of hope and escape, but it was instead the physical manifestation of death, destruction, and the sheer chaos of the Partition. If a train passed by, everyone knew where it was going, so everyone knew the people inside that train were Hindu, Sikh, or Muslim. That made them easily identifiable targets. Trains would be attacked and passengers viciously murdered, raped, and abducted. Neither side was innocent — oftentimes, trains pulled into new Pakistan or new India silent and full of dead bodies. These so-called “ghost trains” would be scrawled with messages like “A gift from India” or “A gift from Pakistan.” I was inspired by Saadat Hasan Manto for much of my imagery – the canvas is eerie and gruesome, yet the main figures A 1947 Ghost Train , Iman Akram (2022), Oil on canvas , 16 x 20 inches are unidentifiable. It’s unclear what religion, gender, or age the forms are, and the train’s name has been covered with smeared blood. The forms are painted in cold wax, a medium that gives texture to oil paints. This makes them three dimensional and nearly come out of the page, somewhat ironically bringing the forms back to life, contrasting with the background of the train. Every community suffered immensely during the Partition of India and Pakistan, regardless of which side of the border they were on, and this painting is meant to emphasize that.
There are very few places in this world where I feel an overwhelming sense of comfort, familiarity, and peace. This past October, I experienced such a niche sense of community and these emotions at Hasan Minhaj’s King’s Jester show right here in Chicago. I had never seen so many Brown people in one place at once (not even Salatul Eid) - but seeing so many Muslims and people who look like me made me recognize the value of Muslim figures in media like Hasan Minhaj. He does more than make us laugh or make us believe we are relatable: he literally brings us together, unites us and bonds us in ways we cannot cultivate on our own. I don’t plan on spoiling the show, but, if you can, see his show in person (he’s still on tour across different cities throughout the country!) because it’s so much more than a comedy show. It’s a raw account of the discrimination Muslims in America face, a testament of our strength and our dedication to our religion. It was inspiring and heartfelt. If you are unable to see his show live, not to worry, King’s Jester is coming to Netflix in 2023.
Elite By Taymae Mimouni
Different Angles of A 1947 Ghost Train. Photos courtesy of Iman Akram
The popular Netflix show, Elite, does a great job showing the world that Muslims are, in fact, real. Or, well, they managed that for one season. Although the show briefly depicts realistic struggles, certainly those of hijabis in Europe, it still raises the question; why did Nadia take off her hijab? In season two of the show, Nadia is told that she must either take off her hijab or be expelled, a situation that many hijabi girls face in Europe. But we later see Nadia entering a bar, hijab-less, all for the sake of impressing our token white savior, Guzman. After that, Nadia falls away from Islam, and seems happier with Guzman and her brand new “friends.” We even see that her father is immensely disappointed in her behavior, giving viewers the impression that islam, and the hijab, was forced upon her.This show is a wonderful example of harmful Muslim stereotypes, made even more evident once one finds out that there are no Muslim women writers for the show.
AL BAYAN | 31 | Spring
Photo Via Netflix
