Who’s homecoming? Kala Ba Ze explores questions of Afghan repatriation

Play aims to portray grief of refugees in light-hearted manner

PESHAWAR: When will you be leaving? children ask Kand Agha who had been asked this question time and again. Infuriated, he replies, “This is my country, I was born and raised here and love this country.” However, his parents ask him to leave the land where he had spent four decades in order to build a new life in another nation.

The children’s persistence and obsession with the phrase Agha abhors with a passion forces him to run after them. The following squabble gives the audience comic relief.

With a captivating beginning that takes people right into the heart of the play, Kala Ba Ze (When will you be leaving?) highlights the issue of Afghan repatriation. The hour-long comedy drama directed and produced by Siyar Ahmad casts light on the plight of Afghans, their forced return and the subsequent resettlement. It also demonstrates the trouble Afghans get into at the hands of the police.

The question of home

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Ahmad said, “The idea for the comedy play came from real life stories and the aim was to portray the grief of the Afghans in a light-hearted manner.”

He said the matter was a grave concern since Afghans and Pakistanis had forged close relationships with each other and most Afghans called Pakistan their home. “Moving away from a place where you have been born and spent nearly all your life is not an easy experience,” Ahmad said.

Significance of the name

He also said that kala ba ze was a term that had been used to mock the predicament of Afghans from a long time. “The phrase had existed and has been in use from a very long time,” he said, adding, it had only been used to dramatise an existing situation now.

“Whenever an Afghan refugee is seen, people shout out kala ba ze which has enraged much of the Afghan population,” Ahmad said. “When people find out a particular individual or group of people is unhappy or dissatisfied with something specific, our society holds on to that and spares no opportunity to drive that point home.”

The director said this is exactly what we have tried to highlight in the play. “Zabih Janbaz, the lead actor who plays the role of Agha, feels ridiculed by the question children ask him repeatedly.

After this drama, the phrase has become even more famous and is being used a lot in normal conversations, particularly in the rural areas.

The platform

Although the quality of the drama recording is not very high, the issue which is a grave concern needed representation.

The director said while Kala Ba Ze was a comedy play, it had told the poignant story in a moving manner and was well received by the audience.

“There is a real story behind this,” Janbaz said, adding people have been on the case of Afghans for a long time. “We have mixed comedy and grief in one drama,” the lead actor said. He added, “The Afghan refugees will leave behind a lot of memories that have been spread over almost four decades.” Janbaz said both sides are not ready to accept the separation.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2016.