Coldplay displayed their support for the protestors in Iran at the sold-out show in Buenos Aires last Saturday Night. The outstanding Lead singer Chris Martin introduced the song Baraye which is sung by Iranian Singer Shervin Hajipour. The song in question is labelled to be the anthem of the 2022 Mahsa Amini Protests. Based on this song being thought to be the fighting force behind the protests, Hajipour was arrested on 29th September 2022 two days after the song was published and was later released on bail. During the arrest of Hajipour many social media users took it upon themselves to nominate Baraye to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for the Grammy Awards category Best Song for Social Change.
Iranian Actress Golshifteh Farahani who has been exiled from Iran since 2009 after appearing in an American movie, joined Coldplay on stage to sing the song in Farsi at this concert. This concert was broadcast live to 80 different countries, as lead singer introduced the song he said “Maybe you see on the news right now that there are so many places where people are not able to gather like this and be free to be themselves” he continued to say “Whether that’s to listen to what they want to listen to, to wear what they want to wear, to think what they want to think, to love who they want to love and particularly at the moment this is very clear in Iran.”
The Coldplay frontman also acknowledged the fact that the show was being broadcast to thousands of people and decide to say a few words “We would like to do something to show that we support all the women and everybody fighting for freedom in Iran and everywhere in fact.” He also continued to say “Now this song is in Farsi, so I can’t really sing it, but were going to sing it together and we send love from Buenos Aires”
Masha Amini the 22-year-old woman who lost her life after being arrested by the country’s well renown “morality police’, for wearing her hijab too loosely. Amini was in a three-day coma and eventually died which sparked national and international protests. The punishment in Iran for being seen without a headscarf can include flogging as well as a fine or prison sentencing. Amini was originally supposed to be held in a detention centre but ended up in Kasri Hospital where she later lost her life. Many women have taken it upon themselves to fight the “Morality Police” head on by protesting which has led to more violence and arrests towards women since the death of Amiri.
