Hengaw condemns government’s coercion of Kurdish Folk Singers into performing ideological anthems
Art, particularly folk music, is not merely a part of a nation’s culture but one of the most vital tools for expressing identity, resistance, and history. Kurdish folk music, deeply rooted in the history of a people's struggles and suffering under oppression, has always been the voice of the wounds, hopes, and resistance of the Kurdish people. Any attempt to impose a government’s ideology on this art form is not only an assault on freedom of expression but also a direct attack on the history, culture, and identity of the Kurdish people.
The coercion of Kurdish folk singers to perform state-stipulated anthems is part of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s systematic project to erase national identity and enforce ideological conformity in Iran. These actions follow policies that date back to the inception of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the prohibition of the Kurdish language in schools, the censorship of Kurdish music, the suppression of Kurdish artists and writers, and the destruction of Kurdish cultural symbols.
Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Iran is a party, every individual and nation, especially those facing national or ethnic oppression, has the right to preserve and express their language, culture, art, and history freely and without coercion or censorship. Forcing Kurdish artists to adopt ideological content is a blatant violation of these international obligations and part of a broader policy of cultural suppression against the Kurdish nation.
The suppression of an artist is the suppression of a nation
Hengaw Organization for Human Rights emphasizes that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s policies are not only a violation of the cultural rights of the Kurdish people but also a flagrant contradiction of its international commitments. The erasure, suppression, and distortion of cultural identity constitute a clear violation of Article 27 of the ICCPR, which underscores the right of oppressed peoples to preserve their culture, language, and art. Additionally, under Article 15 of the ICESCR, every individual must be able to freely participate in the cultural life of their society and should not be subjected to state coersion to accept an imposed culture.
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s policies against Kurdish artists are an example of “cultural genocide,” aimed at gradually erasing Kurdish identity by imposing the state's ideology and preventing the free expression of the culture of this nation.
Condemning the suppression of Mohammad Sharifi, Kurdish singer
Hengaw condemns, in the strongest terms, the summoning of Mohammad Sharifi, a Kurdish folk singer from Sardasht, to the Intelligence Department, where he was forced to delete all Instagram posts related to prominent Kurdish figures and coerced into singing and publishing the anthem *“Ey Iran”* alongside the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Hengaw fully supports Mohammad Sharifi and all artists subjected to similar repression and pressure, emphasizing that such actions are a futile attempt to erase cultural identity and extinguish the Kurdish people’s cultural resistance.
This act is not only the suppression of an artist but also a clear example of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s systematic policies to distort cultural identity and impose its official narrative on the artistic sphere. While Iran forces Kurdish artists to promote its ideology, it has censored Kurdish folk music and suppressed and arrested artists in this field for decades.
