Songs with political or social undertones are not pleasant to the ears of some governments averse to freedom of expression. No wonder Iranian pop singer Mehdi Yarrahi was recently arrested in his country.

Authorities deemed Yarrahi's song marking the first anniversary of the Mahsa Amini protests illegal, according to ABC News, citing a report by the Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Republic's judiciary.

The song's title, "Roosarito," which means "your headscarf," is as provocative as its opening lyrics: "Take off your scarf, the sun is sinking."

The Amini protests were sparked by Mahsa Amini's arrest by moral police officers for not properly wearing a hijab. Her mysterious death on 16 September 2022 while in police custody angered the public, leading to violently suppressed protests. Expressions of support for the protest and inciting women not to wear a hijab are considered a crime in the Islamic state and are punished with imprisonment.

Meanwhile,  in Sri Lanka, playing the piano led to the firing of a police officer on 1 September.

Constable R. M. D. Dayaratne was a guard at the presidential residence in Colombo in July 2022. When protesters camping outside the house and demanding the resignation of then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa stormed the residence, set it on fire, and looted the place, Dayaratne "sat at a grand piano in the compound and played a song for the crowd," Agence France-Presse reported.

"Dayaratne was shown on social media playing the piano while the building was being vandalized," a senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

For entertaining vandals with an impromptu piano performance instead of defending the property, Dayaratne was found guilty of breaching discipline and was dismissed from the service.

 WITH AFP