Publisher’s write-up (translated from
French by me):
‘In 2018, Pakistani investigative journalist
Taha Siddiqui is the victim of a kidnapping and an assassination attempt. He
managed to flee and take the first flight to France… What happened? What could
have driven the Pakistani government, if it is indeed the Pakistani government,
to do this?
Accompanied by cartoonist and
scriptwriter Hubert Maury, 2014 Albert-London Prize winner Taha Siddiqui looks
back on his life, from his early childhood 35 years ago, which saw him evolve
from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan in a culture where comics were forbidden,
practicing fundamentalist Islam and raised by a radicalised father.
Taha dreams of studying art and
journalism, of independence in the midst of a rigorist family and a society of
prohibitions that young people do their best to circumvent. After the shock of
the September 11, 2001 attacks, and his admission to university, between Quranic
school and censorship, Taha sought to emancipate himself and, with courage and
determination, became an investigative journalist. But being a journalist also
makes him a target.
A chronicle of childhood and
adolescence, Dissident Club traces, with liberating humor, the daily life of a
young man grappling with the most severe religious fundamentalisms. As
uplifting as it is edifying, this book offers an indiscreet vision of Pakistan
over the last thirty years, a reflection on the excesses of religious thought,
and above all, one man's fight for freedom.’
Note: The English version of the book has not been released yet – to be
available in 2024
Afin de lire mon avis en français,cliquez ici
The Dissident Club is an autobiographical
graphic novel from the Pakistani journalist Taha Siddiqui, a winner of the Albert
Londres prize for journalism in 2014 (a Francophone equivalent of the
Pulitzer). The graphic novel has been designed by the cartoonist Hubert Maury
and in this story, there are several places around the world to showcase, such
as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and France.
Taha Siddiqui lives in exile today in France,
and this graphic novel starts with his kidnapping by the gangs allegedly
engaged by the Pakistani Army. From here, it goes back in time starting with
his childhood in Saudi Arabia, born to a family of Pakistani immigrants to the
gulf kingdom. He describes he challenges growing up in a highly conservative
society like that of Saudi Arabia and even his relationship family, where his
father practiced a fundamentalist version of Islam – where for example, the
children of the family were not even allowed to celebrate birthdays as it was
against Islam according to him. It is a story Taha growing up and through his
point of view, we also see the evolution of the situation in Pakistan, including
the hanging of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the successful nuclear tests
performed by the country in the 90s and eventual return to dictatorship after
the coup by Pervez Musharaff.
To those who are not very familiar with the
situation in South Asia, but are still interested to know about it, this book
could be an ideal place start, as with the story of Taha, you also have a brief
summary of Pakistani politics from 80s to present, its relations with its
neighbours, etc. In the western world, we have a tendency to group countries
such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, etc. as ‘Muslim countries’ with a
homogeneous identity even though the situation in those countries are totally
different – like for example, how Taha felt a lot more independent in the book
upon his move to Pakistan, given at the end of the day, Pakistani society is
less conservative than that of Saudi Arabia.
With that said, I enjoyed it further since
I grew in a neighbouring country and also someone, who has been interested in
politics since I was young. To start with, to understand the personal situation
of the author, one needs to understand that the Pakistani military
establishment is very powerful, and for a journalist or any individual to
question their actions is done at a great personal risk – like what was done by
the author of the book. One more aspect, which I learnt and was rather shocked
by, was the pervasive nature of radical terrorist organisation in the Pakistani
society like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (recognised as a terrorist organisation by the
governments of Pakistan, India, EU, US, etc.) even in privileged families like
that of the author.
Even though these different names like that
of Pakistani politicians and organisations are evident for someone like me
given I am from that region, I am not in a position to judge how easy it is to
grasp all of these for a reader who is not familiar with this region (if you
have read it, please leave your comment explaining how it was for you).
I also liked the part where the relationship
of the author with his family was explored – particularly his father and also
his two brothers and mother. In
fact, I could not help but compare the similarities with another famous French
graphic novel – L’Arabe du futur by Riad Sattouf, who also grew up in Arab
countries with his two brothers and a radical extremist father – where in Sattouf’s
book, his father liked dictators such as Saddam Hussein and here, the authors
father admired dictators of Pakistan like General Zia Ul-Haq).
The penultimate part
of my review would focus on the artwork of Hubert Maury. I liked the different
colours he had used to distinguish the different countries where the story was
taking place – for Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and France. I also found the drawings
of Karachi and Islamabad very realistic and relatable. The only factor that
bothered me a little was that drawings of the younger women around Taha – there
were at least three important people and they looked quite similar that at
times, I had to struggle to distinguish between them.
To conclude, I would
strongly recommend the graphic novel when it is released, which gives us an
interesting autobiographical account and at the same time, we could skim
through the politics of South Asia (Pakistan in particular). I award the graphic
novel a rating of eight on ten.
Rating – 8/10
Have a nice day,
Andy
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