File photo of the girl band performing at the Battle of the Bands contest. PHOTO: PUBLICITY
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 its 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 band's 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 state's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah among those calling on the band not to be intimidated into giving up on music.
COMMENTS (54)
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@TightPatloon: And just out of Curiosity, why is your Patloon Tight?
Why this girls want to sing in the society where they can't live peacefully. What about Veena malik, Katrina Kaif, Tamil actress Mumtaz, Sada and other Muslim film actress in India & our neighbor Pakistan. So they can dance in cinemas but they should not sing in Rock band . Wat a comedy. This comedy is more than Koundmani, Vadivel, Vivek, Santhanam and Mr Bean comedies.
Similar fatwa should be issued against Emran Hashmi who is promoting nudity in films.
@Ahsan: I am sure we all agree that you would never allow a Hindu or Christian place of worship in Mecca and I can totally understand it. That was exactly the case with Babri masjid. Ayodya happens to be the holiest site for Hindus. You should be grateful that it was allowed to stand for so many years.
@vasan: what about Hindustan ? whose socialism ended by Nehru's grandson and securalism is underneath the Babri Mosque and Democracy is dancing in Kashmir valleys Don't say those things that you don't do yourself ?
Who gave any religion a right to own its adherents ??
Welcome to the religion of peace, tranquility, human rights, equality and happiness.
@faraz: I never said India was perfect. Even in my earlier response I agreed that it has many gaps. But while ULFA undoubtedly has some grievances, they are not seeking to leave the Union. J&K is a different issue altogether where thousands of jihadis have completely altered the demography by driving out the original inhabitants if not killing them. The dispute with Pakistan exists from day 1 but insurgency did not start until 1989 when Pakistan redirected the jihadis who had nothing to do with Kashmir to India. No doubt the people had some legitimate grievances but like any other part of Indian democracy would have addressed their legitimate grievances over a period of time. In the last few years with control over LOC significantly tightened normalcy will be back.
Really sad
The Fatwa has nothing to do with Islam: there are all-girl bands freely making music in many Muslim countries. This is Pakistan's gift to Kashmir!
@gp65 O Come on now what is here to mix a discriminatory substance. There is no religious discrimination and sympathy regarding singing or dancing is it is prohibited for both of us we know it really well. If girls are reprimanded only I haven't ever seen such fatwa regarding male can sing and women can't. Kindly interpret well after research.
@gp65.
common! ab itna bhi acha nahi india.......even in Euro zone people want freedom from different states on different grounds (not just on religious grounds) mostly ethnic, cultural, language, economical, history etc..... e.g. Catalonia and Basque from Spain and France.
what about JKLFin kashmir and ULFA and likes in Assam? they (JKFL) want free Kashmir yet accept hindus as integral part of kashmir society?
@Masroor Qadir: "If a band wants to dance or sing it is up to them the reason behind that is you are free to act what you want, but being Muslim we are not suppose to do it it is opinion of religion not whom we call mullah".
So why are such fatwas not given to Muslim men, why just Muslim women? What if the women want to sing, are they allowed to change their religion or will you consider it apostasy?
@faraz: "p.s. what about secular/socialist freedom seekers…. do they exist anymore??"
There are many problems India has and people in the country are slowly but surely forcing the government to focus on those. The resources limit the speed with which the problems are addressed. But I do not know of any secular person in India who is seeking 'freedom' from India.
And most Indians are secular. Of course no one would deny that there are some bigots. Even if 1 % of country was bigoted that would still be 12 million bigots and I doubt there are that many. This is why increasingly India is getting more integrated and the communal riots are decreasing frequency and scale.
Being a Muslim If I say that Islam is a complete code of life, I don’t know what actually arises in the minds of people why they actually react superficial. If All religions have their harmony and ethics in the world, if one follows religiously he is free to act on that. Why every other wants Islam to make amendments in it for their own sake. If a band wants to dance or sing it is up to them the reason behind that is you are free to act what you want, but being Muslim we are not suppose to do it it is opinion of religion not whom we call mullah. I condemn all those opinions who are actually rebuking our religious personalities just because they are not stating what the entire world wants us before declaring us one of most prestigious secularist societies.
@gp65: i wanted to know what Pak chattering class think about these scums.
p.s. what about secular/socialist freedom seekers.... do they exist anymore??
One thing is clear. Either the followers of this mufti are criminals or cowards.
This is not Indian Kashmir rather it is part of Kashmir occupied by India
@faraz: My dear, it is precisely those freedom fighters that the parents of these little girls are afraid of - who else? The CM has already said that he supports the girls right to sing.
Those freedom fighters are the only reason AFSPA is applied to J&K. It did not exist prior to 1989. Those freedom fighters are the reason tourism related income had literally vanished from Kashmir but which slowly and gradually the peace brought in by Indian army has restored tourism and associated income. Those freedom fighters drove out hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri pandits from their homes. Those freedom fighters are the ones that provide the muscle to muftis such as these. Otherwise in rest of India even when muftis pass fatwas, no one pays attention to them. For example a couple of years back, Deoband seminary issued a fatwa that Muslim women should not work as a receptionist. Muslim women just laughed and ignored the fatwa.
So yes these freedom fighters have caused a lot of harm to the people living in Kashmir and to that extent they have harmed India too since these are fellow citizens. However these freedom fighters power is on the decline. Even these girls, if they go and settle in Mumbai or Bangalore and restart their band there will be no one to stop them.
This proves one thing, these girls are no Malala
and what are so called freedom fighters dong........will they not protect the freedom of these little girls....
@Hissan: It is amazing how you have turned this particular event around. If there had been Hindu groups clamoring that the girl band be allowed to play despite the Mufti's ban you would have cried hoarse saying that in secular India the majority was infringing on what would have been a "minorities internal issue". The fact that the majority stays quiet and minds their own business when people of a minority religion sort things among themselves is secularism.
On a different note... I am sure that many Pakistanis know that a Kashimiri once won the INDIAN Idol music reality show.
@IceSoul: "So much for “Secular India”.. Maybe instead of firing at Pak Army soldiers across the LoC, the Indians should fire at the fanatics at home."
You always make reasonable comments so I am surprised by this comment from you. There is freedom of worship in a secular country and nothing here shows that this was denied. Also the laws should not discriminate between people based on religion in a secular country and again there is no evidence that there was any government ruling or edict to stop the girls from performing.
DO muftis have the right to say what they want to in a secular country? Yes. Does a family have the right to follow their faith and do what the mufti says is their faith? YEs. The thing that is bothersome here is that the mufti had not given any explicit threat to the girls. If he had done that, he could be arrested under the law. The family however appears to have responded to the implicit threat which no law can take cognisance of. Thus the issue is not of secularism at all but the existence of fanatics but unless and until they either issue threats or act on threats, the government cannot simply round them up. If the government did, it is Pakistanis who would be the first shouting themselves hoarse that there was zulm in Indian Kashmir.
I invite Mr.Hafiz Saeed Jee to join Congress. There is no need for anymore Terrorist attacks. He will make money and also force extremism down the throat of 1.2 billion people with ease. All he needs to do is sit in an AC room in Indian Parliament. Simple and effective solution. And he will be much safe in India. No SEAL Team 6 would come to get him.
@secularsheet: "indias secularism exposed , haha worlds largest demoncracy"
Do you understand what secularism is? The LAW did not prevent the girls from performing. The chief minister in fact said that the girls should continue to perform. It is the families of the girls who thought that the girls might be at risk if they defied the fatwa and asked the girls to stop performing.
How is this issue even remotely connected with secularism. In fact secularism allows you freedom of worship and doing/abstaining things based on your religious beliefs. That is what seems to have happened here.
@Yasiry2j: "Like it or Not, Music has no Place in Islam. Either live in Islam with accepting it peacefully or if you don’t then do whatever you want but don’t complain."
A couple of question for you: 1) What are your views on apostacy? If someone DOES want to pursue music, and they choose to leave Islam for that reason, do you think apostacy and relevant punishment should apply to them? 2) What are the muftis in Pakistan doing? How come they are not issuing fatwas on Atif Aslam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shehzad ROy, Ali Zafar etc.? 3) How come this mufti who issued a fatwa on the girl band did not issue a similar fatwa on A R Rehman? On any number of top notch Hindustani classical music exponents who happen to be Muslim? Or no fatwa on men only on women because they are soft targets?
Kashmir girl band quits after fatwa http://dawn.com/2013/02/05/kashmir-girl-band-quits-after-fatwa/
@Yasiry2j: You maybe right about music having no place in Islam. However no one is asing you to play music or even listen to music . Nobody has the right to force their point of view down some body else's throat. Of all the things going wrong in Kashmir this Mullah could only find the time and inclination to issue a Fatwa on these Highschool kids? Why Because he knew no one is ging to stand up for these kids. What a bully! And shame on the Kashmiri people for letting ths self righteous man to bully these kids.
@Ali:
Ruby means to say about Sharia and the mullah,maulvi and mufti attitudes which are dominant in Islamic Sharia Republic of Pakistan.
@ruby: There are many female singers in Pakistan. Why you are dragging Pakistan in this Issue?
@Genesis:
Just like a setting in a dystopian novel where you have to conform, or risk death. In Machiavellian terms, it's absolutely brilliant strategy to sustain current numbers and still grow by showing a mirage of peace and serenity to the outsiders who show interest. No wonder orthodoxy and zealotry is as common as it is, as any contrary opinion and action is brutally suppressed.
Why listen to these mullahs or muftis. You can find a mullah who will give a fatwa you like. Time to move out of stone age mentality.
@Mj: If you live in Islam you are restricted.If you leave you are accused of apostasy.where is the solution>
@Hissan: @IceSoul: All due thanks to the likes of Hafeez Saeed and 'Strategic assets'..
I don't follow, how does this prove India isn't secular? It's tragic their situation came to this. The extreme fragmentation in Islam coupled with easily fundamentalism rears it's head again.
Music especially for girls that too western and of course publicly performing on stage and instigating others to do so is Harm in Islam's sharia .
Mufti are obliged to clear what Islam tell. If someone is accepting this its his/her own wish. We should not criticize on someone's choice as we dont do on other things.
its in INDIAN held kashmir , the so called champion of secularism. Atleast we allow females to sing
Islamists=1 : Liberalism+Pursuit of Happiness + Freedom of expression=0
Goooooo Mullahs!!!!!
@Yasir2j If music has no place in ISLAM, then the likes of Mohammed Rafi, Noor Jahan, Mehdi Hasan are non-muslims according to you. For the normal people they are GREAT MUSLIM ARTISTS, and our ROLE models.
@Yasiry2j: "Either live in Islam with accepting it peacefully or if you don’t then do whatever you want but don’t complain"
That's the thing. The second option is met with death threats and overzealous faithful putting you on their hit lists. Don't act naive.
Ahmad, Why do girls need to study? It is best they stay at home and leave such activities for the male members of their families. Their work is to look after their husbands,brothers,fathers, cook ,clean and make bonny babies every once in a while.
May ALLAH bless them with better things then doing music !! I respect and appreciate their decision.
indias secularism exposed , haha worlds largest demoncracy
@Zaid Hamid:
And that to girl rock band
@Yasiry2j: So you are saying people should be free to leave Islam without being killed? Is that what you are suggesting?
@Ahmad: "Good News Let them focus on their study." Yes in the meantime whole of Pakistan will be on holiday to "celiberate" Kashmir day and we will let Pakistani singers will perform in rest of India
Good News
Let them focus on their study.
Like it or Not, Music has no Place in Islam. Either live in Islam with accepting it peacefully or if you don't then do whatever you want but don't complain. Mufti had duty to inform Muslim masses and he did it simply.
Freedom to throw rock. No freedom for rock band. Yes! Now we'll go to rock age.
Rocks are cool to throw on soldiers but not cool to play music on.
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 This shows the attitude of muslims in general about fine arts, women equality and tolerance for opposing views. Pathetic mullahs and worst followers.
Congratulations Pakistan!! you injected your craziness to Kashmir.
No dance around shouting Kashmir banega Pakistan.