“The first time I faced censorship was in 1979 when I had recorded my first works for the only tv station which existed in Afghanistan at that time.
The song was entitled 'Ice Blocks'. I was a 17-year-old university
student. The lyrics said:
One night after this song had been aired on tv the video tape with my song disappeared from the archive. Why? I don't know. And then again, maybe I do know. It was because of the message which was hiding in the song.
Then I performed a song entitled 'Maula Ali':
Since I used the 'throne of sorrow' as a symbol for their regime they didn't allow the song to be broadcasted. This song was banned for years, until I approached the president and I got the permission from the President's Office to rebroadcast it.
I had another song entitled 'Wairan' ('Ruined') which was censored not for its lyrics, but for its tv video clip. In the clip a strong wind destroys a home which I had built out of playing cards. Because of that particular image they blacklisted this video clip for years.
I had one other song entitled 'Lock of Prison' in which I used Rumi's poem:
'I came again like a new Eid to break the locks of prisons
and break the teeth and claws of this sky which eats human beings'
In this song, I also made a significant tv image. I showed the rope of an execution gallows, burning, and a wheel was shown running over a dark pair of glasses. This song was also blacklisted for several years and was among those songs which I got permission from the president to be released.
I had some other songs – like 'I have an emmigrant [friend]'. In my song I sang about the story of emmigration, and they didn't allow us to tell that people are leaving the country. Half of the nation is emmigrants, and you have also an emmigrant friend. They didn't allow us to sing songs like that...
'I'm upset because I have an emmigrant friend. Don't disturb (hurt) me, please!'”
