The play was written in 1986 and first performed on International Women's Day in 1987. Shahid Nadeem wrote the play when he was in exile in London after being imprisoned by the military government of General Zia-ul-Haq. The play refers to the oppressive and discriminatory laws introduced by the Zia-ul-Haq military regime in 1983, which under the cover of Islamic reform took away many of the rights which had been won by women after a prolonged struggle. This resulted in a strong reaction from the enlightened middle-class women. A protest march in Lahore on 12 February 1983, was violently broken up by the police.
Protesting women were beaten, dragged on the road by their hair and arrested (Madeeha Gauhar was one of them). That was the beginning of a new phase in the women's movement which refused new life in the democratic struggle against the military rule. "Barri" addresses the issue of women's emancipation and was part of the debate during the women's movement. In 1989, "Barri" was converted into a TV series "Neelay Haath". "Barri" was also performed at the Los Angles International Arts Festival in 2001.