Karim family

The Karim family is a fictional family from the BBC soap opera EastEnders. The characters appeared in the programme during a period when the series was expanding its portrayal of Asian and Muslim communities in the fictional London neighbourhood of Walford. The family was associated primarily with the First til Last grocery shop, a business previously connected with the Jeffery family, and their storylines examined tensions between family tradition, religious expectations and the cultural environment of late-1980s Britain. The central household consisted of Ashraf Karim, his wife Sufia, their daughter Shireen and their son Sohail. Ashraf, played by Tony Wredden in an initial 1987 appearance and by Aftab Sachak from 1988 onward, was written as a stern, authoritarian shopkeeper. Sufia, played by Rani Singh, was his wife in an arranged marriage. Their teenage children, Shireen and Sohail, were portrayed as increasingly influenced by the society around them and less willing to accept their father's strict rules. The Karims' connection with Walford developed through Ashraf's family relationship to Saeed Jeffery, an earlier EastEnders character. Ashraf first appeared in July 1987 in connection with the sale of the flat above the First til Last shop. The programme's early continuity described this character as Saeed's brother, while later episodes and accompanying reference books recast him as Saeed's second cousin. From early 1988, the family became regular occupants of the series. Ashraf took over the grocery business, moved his household into a house in Victoria Road and attempted to establish the family as a respectable and economically successful presence in the community. Many of the family's plots focused on the practical and social pressures of running a small shop. Ashraf's strict management style led to conflict with Arthur Fowler, whom he hired at the store. A delivery mistake involving meat offended a customer and resulted in Arthur being assigned humiliating paper-delivery and apology duties before eventually losing his job. These stories positioned the shop as both a commercial setting and a point of interaction between the Karim household and other Walford residents. The family drama centred particularly on Shireen's relationships and Ashraf's attempts to control her behaviour. She developed a relationship with Ricky Butcher, but Ashraf objected to the match and banned them from seeing one another. He subsequently tried to arrange a Muslim marriage for Shireen and even asked Dr Harold Legg to conduct a virginity examination; the doctor refused. Shireen was also sent to a boarding school, where she experienced racist bullying and eventually ran away. Although she initially resisted the arranged-marriage proposal involving Jabbar Ahmed, she grew to care for him after meeting him. The family's most consequential storyline involved Ashraf's continuing affair with Stella, a white woman with whom he had been involved before and during his marriage to Sufia. Sufia discovered the relationship in 1989 and considered leaving, but temporarily remained after Ashraf promised that the affair had ended. Ashraf later resumed seeing Stella. Members of Jabbar's family discovered Ashraf's infidelity and cancelled Shireen's engagement, leaving Shireen distressed and exposing the gap between Ashraf's public claims about family honour and his private conduct. The Karims left Walford in June 1990 after Ashraf decided to relocate the family to Bristol and leave the shop with relatives. Shireen and Jabbar's relatives attempted to preserve the young couple's relationship through secret meetings, but the programme did not establish whether they eventually married. The family was subsequently remembered as a short-lived EastEnders household. Later commentary criticised the group of storylines for relying on tokenism, ethnic stereotyping and simplified conflicts between Asian tradition and Western culture. As a fictional television family rather than a commercial organization, the Karims have no independent products, corporate structure, financial data or continuing business operations outside the narrative.

The Karim family was introduced into EastEnders as the new operators of the First til Last grocery shop. The business had previously been associated with Naima Jeffery and her relatives, and the Karims' arrival followed the departure of that earlier household from the programme's regular storylines. The family was created during producer Mike Gibbon's tenure and became an established part of the serial during 1988. Ashraf Karim first appeared in July 1987 in a story involving the flat above the shop. He informed tenants Sue and Ali Osman that the property was being sold, leading to its eventual purchase by Alan McIntyre. Continuity surrounding Ashraf's family connection to Saeed Jeffery changed over time: an early appearance described him as Saeed's brother, whereas the later version identified him as Saeed's second cousin. EastEnders reference publications generally adopted the later account and treated the earlier appearance as part of Ashraf's history. The regular Karim household consisted of Ashraf, Sufia and their teenage children, Shireen and Sohail. In the character backstory, Ashraf had moved from Bangladesh to Britain in 1968 and initially worked in a Midlands car factory. He later joined relatives operating corner shops in London, saved money and eventually acquired a business of his own. His family history included an arranged marriage to Sufia, who joined him in Britain in 1973 after their marriage in Bangladesh. Ashraf and Sufia raised two children while attempting to preserve their religious and cultural expectations in a changing British environment. After taking over the First til Last, Ashraf hired Arthur Fowler. Their relationship deteriorated after Arthur supplied a customer with a delivery containing an inappropriate meat product. Ashraf responded by assigning Arthur to deliver newspapers and then to write and distribute personal apologies. The dispute became a source of embarrassment for Arthur and ended with his dismissal. The storyline established the shop as a site where cultural misunderstanding, authority and working relationships could be dramatised. Shireen's plots formed the family's main intergenerational conflict. She became close to Ricky Butcher and began seeing him, but Ashraf considered the relationship unacceptable. When he learned about it, he forbade further contact and sought to arrange a marriage with a suitable Muslim man. He also demanded a medical examination intended to establish whether Shireen was a virgin. Dr Harold Legg refused, challenging Ashraf's assumptions and the coercive nature of the request. Ashraf's efforts to control Shireen extended to sending her to a boarding school, but she ran away after reporting racist bullying. Sohail was written as more openly mischievous and rebellious. He showed an interest in Diane Butcher and attempted to use his knowledge of Shireen's relationship with Ricky to pressure her into spending time with him. The situation ended badly, and Sohail revealed Shireen's secret to Ashraf. He later reacted against his father's authority and was also affected by the discovery that Ashraf continued to see Stella. The marriage and affair stories converged in 1989. Sufia learned that Ashraf had maintained a long-running relationship with Stella, a white woman he had known before his marriage. Although Sufia initially threatened to leave, Ashraf persuaded her to stay after claiming the affair was over. He then resumed the relationship. Shireen's proposed marriage to Jabbar Ahmed appeared initially to offer a compromise between her parents' expectations and her own feelings. She came to love Jabbar, but his relatives discovered Ashraf with Stella and cancelled the engagement. Sufia and members of Jabbar's family nevertheless helped the young couple meet secretly before the Karims' departure. In June 1990, the family left Walford for Bristol. Ashraf planned to leave the shop in the care of cousins, bringing the family's two-year run in the serial to a close. The programme did not resolve whether Shireen and Jabbar ultimately married. The family was among the characters removed during Michael Ferguson's period as executive producer. An earlier proposal, reportedly developed before the change in production leadership, would have killed Sufia during a shotgun raid, but that storyline was not produced. Later criticism argued that the Karims were remembered less for sustained character development than for a limited set of story functions involving the corner shop, arranged marriage and cultural conflict.

• 1990

  The family leaves Walford

  [1]Karim familyen.wikipedia.org

  The Karims make their final appearance in June after moving to Bristol.

• 1989

  Sufia discovers Ashraf's affair

  [1]Karim familyen.wikipedia.org

  Sufia learns that Ashraf has continued his relationship with Stella and briefly considers leaving the marriage.

• 1989

  Shireen's engagement to Jabbar Ahmed collapses

  [1]Karim familyen.wikipedia.org

  Jabbar's family cancels the engagement after discovering Ashraf's infidelity, although Shireen and Jabbar continue meeting secretly.

• 1988

  The Karim household becomes established in Walford

  [1]Karim familyen.wikipedia.org

  Ashraf and Sufia take over the grocery shop and move to Walford with Shireen and Sohail.

• 1988

  Conflict over Shireen's relationship with Ricky

  [1]Karim familyen.wikipedia.org

  Ashraf discovers Shireen's relationship with Ricky Butcher and attempts to stop it through bans, schooling and an arranged-marriage plan.

• 1987

  Ashraf Karim first appears

  [1]Karim familyen.wikipedia.org

  Ashraf appears in July in a storyline concerning the sale of the flat above the First til Last shop.

A fictional EastEnders family used to explore migration, small-business life, racism, arranged marriage, intergenerational conflict and the tension between religious or family expectations and modern British social life.

• 1990

  The family relocates to BristolStrategy

  Background

  The collapse of Shireen's engagement and the exposure of Ashraf's affair create a severe family and social crisis.

  Action taken

  Ashraf decides to move the household away from Walford and leave the grocery shop with cousins.

  Aftermath

  The family exits EastEnders, and the programme leaves Shireen and Jabbar's eventual future unresolved.

  Source

• 1988

  Ashraf takes over the First til LastStrategy

  Background

  The family needs an independent livelihood after building experience in relatives' shops and moving into the Walford community.

  Action taken

  Ashraf purchases or assumes operational control of the First til Last grocery business and places relatives in his earlier shop so he can run the new store.

  Aftermath

  The shop becomes the family's main workplace and a recurring setting for conflicts with customers and other residents.

  Source

1. 1Karim familyen.wikipedia.org