11/17/2009

in

Iranian singer joins hundreds of artists who have spoken out against the government for its crackdown on those who challenge its beliefs.

Robyn Chelsea-Seifert

Mohammad Reza Shajarian became a political protester when Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared protesters to be "dust and trash."  
  
In response, the beloved Iranian singer told a BBC interviewer he considered himself the voice of dust and trash and asked the state radio and television broadcaster (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) to stop playing his music. They complied immediately.  
  
Shajarian shares his beliefs with hundreds in the entertainment industry and millions of concerned Iranians angered over the fraudulent June 12 election giving a second term to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  
  
"After what happened, I said 'no way' and threatened to file a complaint against them if they continued to use my music," Shajarian told The Associated Press.  
  
Hundreds of musicians, actors, filmmakers, poets and writers have spoken out against the government for its crackdown on those who disapprove. In turn the Government accused artists of falling prey to foreign enemies and has banned work and travel abroad. Many have been detained. Some artists have taken to more subtle forms of protest by wearing green, the color of the opposition movement.  
  
Last summer, Ahmadinejad's art adviser, Javad Shamaqdari, threatened to ban artists from film festivals. He said in Tehran, "The enemy, which has been thwarted in its plans for a velvet coup, is trying to keep up the fever of their subversive activities at foreign art and cinematic events."  
  
"It's much greater now because of the stand most of the artists have taken against them," Shajarian said. "For now, they're moving very calmly. But in the future, I know there will be a confrontation between the artists and this government."  
  
Shajarian has been using his art to direct his message to the public and the government. In September, Shajarian sang "Zaban e Atash o Ahan" (The language of Fire and Iron), based on a well-known poem in which he pleads: "Lay down your gun. Come, sit down, talk, hear. Perhaps the light of humanity will get through to your heart too."  
  
During his last tour of Europe in September, he sang "Brotherhood in Arms," calling on Iranians to unite."It's a message that I always had for the Iranian people: how to love each other, how to be good and kind to each other, to be united. But now it's taken on a more important meaning."