Examining the Issue of Identity in Ayisha Malik’s Novel “Sofia Khan is Not Obliged” Through Homi K. Bhabha’s Concepts of ‘Hybridity, Ambivalence and Mimicry’

This paper studies Ayisha Malik’s Sofia Khan is not obliged from postcolonial perspective. The paper studies the novel from the view of the discourse presented by Homi K. Bhabha. The novel was published in 2015. The story revolves around a girl of Muslim ethnicity from Pakistan named Sofia Khan. She is living in London and is working there in a publishing company. The story is about the adventures of protagonist; her experiences and views the London from her perspective. The paper analyzes the characters and the main events from the research method of textual analysis. The study finds that the concept proposed by Bhabha, very much plays an operative role (viable role) on the British-Muslim- characters in their attempt to assimilate into their Host/Home country. It concludes that how these Muslim characters locate agency in the “in between space” within the process of mimicry and negotiate their identity in their effort to assimilate in colonizer’s space.

Mutationalscreening of Thalassemia Affected Families in Rahim Yar Khan

Thalassemia is an autosomal recessive blood disorder, and this is the second most abundant genetic disorder, of which 50% of patients are from the Southeast Asian region. Beta-Haemoglobin (HBB) gene carries the mutation, and the alteration in the HBB gene sequence results in the abnormal functioning of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin molecules. This study was conducted on the 20 affected families of Thalassemia after their consent. Blood samples were collected. Then DNA was extracted using a standard organic method with some modifications. Primers for the exonic and intronic region of the HBB gene were designed and amplified following PCR protocol. Amplicons were sequenced for mutation detection using bioinformatic tools. The previous researches show that incorrect intronic and exonic splicing lead the thalassemia to reach at worst condition due to defect in mutation. The Human Splicing Finder (HSF) tool, BLAST tool from NCBI website, and Bioedit software have been used for analyzing the sequence and variations at positions. Five different samples of the HBB gene showed differences in different locations of exon and intron. HBB Exon 1 Sample 1 has intronic change with variation in base change position c269+5 on an amplified fragment from G>C. HBB Exon 1 Sample 2 has exonic change with variation in base change position c185 on an amplified fragment from T>C of nucleotide change, and codon replacement occurs at position CAT>CAC as amino acid p.His does not change. HBB Exon 1 Sample 3 has intronic change with variation in base change position c269+5 on an amplified fragment from G>C. HBB Exon 1 Sample 4 has exonic change with variation in base change position c185 on an amplified fragment from T>C of nucleotide change, and codon replacement occurs at position CAT>CAC as amino acid p.His does not change. HBB Exon 2 Sample 5 has intronic change with variation in base change position c491+16 on an amplified fragment from G>C. Graphical Representation and chromatogram of Potential splice site are showing intronic and exonic variations at the position. G replaces C in samples of intronic variation & T replaces C in samples of exonic variation. Change in sequence alignment is observed at different positions in samples of exons and introns. This study concludes that the change in the HBB gene is observed as well as intronic, and exonic splicing can lead thalassemia from severe to mild.