Kurdish musician plays for freedom

Supressing song lyrics can be a form of puritanical control

Kurdish singer, Newroz, explains the impact that censorship has on his career.

Newroz is an Iraqi Kurd. Born in the Behedinan province in the north of Iraq, he grew up defying restrictions and sang openly in the Kurdish language.

As a result he faced imprisonment, torture and eventually exile.

A resident of London since 1989, Newroz told the BBC World Service's Outlook programme how strict censorship has affected his music.

"Iraq is like a jail for me," he asserted. "I have a mouth and tongue to speak freely and I was not allowed to sing in the Kurdish language."

Symbolic

For Newroz "singing is like breathing." An integral part of his life, since a young boy he has sung publicly.

At birthdays and weddings he sang folk and pop songs, but by his teenage years he had started to covertly sing of his political beliefs.

"Without freedom it is very difficult to live"

Newroz

Claiming that he "wanted to tell Kurdish people about their history and their language," Newroz explained how he used symbolic language in support of his nation's freedom fighters.

"If I said red poppies it meant martyrs. If I said shepherds I meant leaders or a tree represents life and if I said mother then I would be talking about the whole country Kurdistan."

Arrest

His songs of resistance became so popular that fans copied them onto cassettes and circulated them in Kurdistan.

This he believes led to his arrest by the Iraqi Ba'ath regime in 1979.

"I was detained for 22 days," he explained.

"I was forced to sign a pledge that said that if I sang against the political regime again I would have to accept the death penalty for myself."

Refusing to modify his lyrics - "changing the words would be like killing one or two of your kids and leaving the others behind" - Newroz took action.

"I couldn't go out of town without the regime's permission," he explained.

"They banned all of my songs and so I was forced to join the Kurdish revolution."

Freedom

Choosing "words over guns", for 10 years Newroz sang as he travelled across the Middle East.

"Saddam Hussein's regime was very strong," he asserted, "and without freedom it was very difficult to live."

In 1989 Newroz was granted political asylum in Britain. He continues to perform in London but one day he hopes modern communication will enable him to play in his home in Northern Iraq.

"No longer can those regimes dictate to us because we have the internet and satellites where ever we go," he explained.

"I feel this is a new life and a new hope, but one day I hope to be free to get back to my country."