Cycle of Female Oppression in Aryana Sayeed’s ‘Baanoo-E Atash Nesheen’

Baanoo-E Atash Nesheen (The Lady of the Land of Fire) is a song released by Afghan popstar, Aryan Sayeed, in 2013. She sings to the women of Afghanistan, capturing the experiences faced by many of them a poetic yet unshrinking way, which evokes both sorrow and perhaps a fleeting sense of solidarity. Depressingly, while the song was released ten years ago, the situation in Afghanistan has not improved, but has gotten worse. 

The song begins: “I am the Lady of the Land of Fire.” The assertive placement of this statement as the first line of the song symbolises how the initial fact of being a female completely changes the course one’s life will take. The fact that Sayeed says she is the ‘Lady’, and not the child, the protector, or the steward, shows again how, in this case, being a female is an essential characteristic that will affect everything, including how one is perceived by others and themself. Here, ‘the Land of Fire’ represents Afghanistan: the destructive and uncontrollable image of fire is one that can accurately portray many aspects of the country, mainly its ever-present state of conflict, which has in recent years included the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, the Afghan Civil War, the US-led Afghanistan War and the consequent humanitarian crisis which is happening right now. These conflicts have had a devastating impact on everyone in the country, but have also had a unique impact on women, since they have been specifically targeted by regimes, such as those of the Taliban government, and the added strain on the country has translated to further pressure on women in their roles of housewives and mothers. 

Later on, Sayeed sings, “Each step takes me to a different direction/The target of ambush by monsters and predators.” These lines refer to the saddening truth of how dangerous it is to be a woman in Afghanistan. Harassment is extremely common; women received unwanted looks, comments and questions every time they go out, and are followed, kidnapped, or even killed regularly. Women are forced to cover up completely whenever they leave the house, and even when they do this, going out is an experience so unpleasant that most women delay their regular tasks, such as going to the supermarket, to the evening in order to avoid as many people as possible.

Unfortunately, this atmosphere is part of a vicious cycle which takes place in Afghanistan. Due to how they are treated when they go outside, many women are not permitted to go to school or university by their family since they know how much mistreatment they will have to endure (although now the situation is even worse since women aren’t permitted to have an education by the Taliban at all). However, missing out on an education leads to women not being able to secure a job and ending up having children and getting married at a very young age. Due to the lack of infrastructure and the corruption of the government, many families end up in poverty. The combination of poverty and lack of education darkens people’s minds, and they end up raising their children in the exact way they were raised since they don’t know what else to do. Girls become their mothers and boys become their fathers; the cycle of female oppression, poverty and harassment continues. Women don’t live to use their voices; they live to survive and to serve. Some other crucial lyrics in the song include: 

‘Who says I am a mother to this world?/ I am nothing but a burden on the son’s shoulders.’

‘The moment my heart expresses suffocation/ I get bombarded by the stones of the world around.’

‘I am the incurable wound of this Earth/ I am the subject of stoning by the nation/I am a dishonour to culture and tradition/ I am a black mark on faith and religion.’

 According to Fawzia Koofi, former deputy speaker of Afghan parliament, ‘everyday there is at least one or two women who commit suicide for the lack of opportunity, for their mental health, for the pressure they receive.’ The situation in Afghanistan in completely unjust. Female voices are not heard at all, meaning that no real change takes place and women cannot bear their circumstances any longer.

The issue needs to be tackled on a fundamental level, something which cannot be done through occasionally donating to charity or simply reading and writing about the issue. Education needs to be secured for all children. Poverty needs to end. Female voices need to be heard.