After threats, fatwa issued against Kashmir`s all-girl rock band

Zeenews Bureau

Srinagar: After online threats and hate messages, the Valley`s only all-girls rock band - Praagaash – is now facing ire of the Grand Mufti of Kashmir. On Sunday, Bashir-ud-din Farooqi issued a fatwa against three Kashmiri girls for being part of a rock band, saying the women should stop their activities and further advised them to imbibe moral values. “Yes, I issued the fatwa. All the bad things happening in the Indian society are because of music,” he said. “They (girls) should stop from such activities and not get influenced by the support of political leadership.” In response to the fatwa, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had earlier supported the rock band, tweeted on Sunday: “Given the importance people attach to the fatwas of the Grand Mufti the less said the better.” But the Grand Mufti is not impressed. “This (music and singing) is the first step towards bulldozing our moral and Islamic fabric in Kashmir. I advise their parents to impart Islamic education alongside modern education to them, which can only guarantee success in their life,” he said The band is on the target of the separatists too. “There is no room for nourishing Western culture and immoral values in Kashmir. No noble family will allow their girls to choose their profession as a dancer,” said Ayaz Akbar, the spokesperson of the hardline faction of Hurriyat led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani. “Parents should have chipped in to advise their daughters that their activities are not according to Islam.” The all-girls band, which came to limelight in late December last year after their performance at the annual `Battle of the Bands` competition here, had defied the convention by stepping into the male-dominated field of music. Image courtesy: Facebook