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Kashmiri girl quits band after fatwa
SRINAGAR: An all-girl teenage rock
band from Indian-administered
Kashmir has decided to split after
the regions top Muslim cleric
declared their music to be un-
Islamic, their manager said
Tuesday.
Pragaash, a three-piece group
whose members are still in high
school, had been the target of an
online hate campaign ever since
winning a Battle of the Bands
contest in December.
But after initially insisting they
would continue making music, they
have now called it quits after the
Grand Mufti of Jammu and
Kashmir, Bashiruddin Ahmad,
branded them as indecent and
issued a fatwa calling for them to
disband.
After the fatwa the girls decided
to quit and disband, Adnan
Mattoo, the bands manager, said
in brief comments to AFP.
The mother of one of the girls
confirmed that her daughter had
decided to leave the band, saying
she was staying with relatives
outside Kashmir until the fuss died
down.
My daughter had been depressed
and irritable so we decided to send
her away to another city for some
time, said the mother, who did
not want to give her name.
The comments by the grand mufti
have been widely criticised with
the states Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah among those calling on
the band not to be intimidated
into giving up on music.
Kashmir is Indias only Muslim-
majority state and hardline
Islamists have a reputation for
trying to impose Islamic law,
forcing the closure of cinemas and
liquor stores with the onset of an
anti-India insurgency in 1990.
Kashmir girl band quits after fatwa | Entertainment | DAWN.COM
SRINAGAR: An all-girl teenage rock
band from Indian-administered
Kashmir has decided to split after
the regions top Muslim cleric
declared their music to be un-
Islamic, their manager said
Tuesday.
Pragaash, a three-piece group
whose members are still in high
school, had been the target of an
online hate campaign ever since
winning a Battle of the Bands
contest in December.
But after initially insisting they
would continue making music, they
have now called it quits after the
Grand Mufti of Jammu and
Kashmir, Bashiruddin Ahmad,
branded them as indecent and
issued a fatwa calling for them to
disband.
After the fatwa the girls decided
to quit and disband, Adnan
Mattoo, the bands manager, said
in brief comments to AFP.
The mother of one of the girls
confirmed that her daughter had
decided to leave the band, saying
she was staying with relatives
outside Kashmir until the fuss died
down.
My daughter had been depressed
and irritable so we decided to send
her away to another city for some
time, said the mother, who did
not want to give her name.
The comments by the grand mufti
have been widely criticised with
the states Chief Minister Omar
Abdullah among those calling on
the band not to be intimidated
into giving up on music.
Kashmir is Indias only Muslim-
majority state and hardline
Islamists have a reputation for
trying to impose Islamic law,
forcing the closure of cinemas and
liquor stores with the onset of an
anti-India insurgency in 1990.
Kashmir girl band quits after fatwa | Entertainment | DAWN.COM