How I sang for my freedom
As a Kurdish teenager in Iraq in the 1970s, Nawroz Oramari was told he’d be executed if he was caught singing. He eventually had to cross many borders in his quest to sing freely.
When Kurdish folk singer Nawroz Oramari was a teenager growing up in Saddam Hussein's Iraq, he was told he'd be executed if he was caught singing - he and his father even had to sign a pledge saying that they accepted the death penalty if they did so. Nawroz tells Anu Anand about his remarkable life - joining the Kurdish resistance, ending up in prison and even taking on multiple identities - including that of an Emirati Oil Tycoon - in his quest to be able to sing freely in his native language. This programme was first broadcast on 6th May 2021.
Presenter: Anu Anand
Producer: Mariana Des Forges
Picture: Nawroz Oramari in London
Credit: Courtesy of Nawroz Oramari
Get in touch: [email protected]
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Broadcasts
- Sat 5 Jun 202108:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sat 5 Jun 202117:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 6 Jun 202108:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Sun 6 Jun 202122:32GMTBBC World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
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