Muslim Fatwa, death threats, forces all-girl band in India to disband
An Indian high school all-girl rock band have quit after a senior Muslim cleric issued a fatwa against them and branded them “indecent”.
The teenagers became victims of an online hate campaign and were called “sluts” and “prostitutes” on social networking sites.
Separatists in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where the band are from, accused them of “Western-style cultural waywardness”.
The group’s music teacher and manager Adnan Mattoo said the three members of Pragaash, which means First Light in Kashmiri, were so scared by the backlash they had decided to disband.
“First, the girls had decided to quit live performance due to an online hate campaign and concentrate on making an album. But after an edict by the government’s own cleric, these girls are saying goodbye to music,” Mattoo said.
One of the members has fled to another city.
Her mother, who did not wish to be named, said: “My daughter had been depressed and irritable so we decided to send her away to another city for some time.”
Pragaash comprised drummer Farah Deeba, bass guitarist Aneeqa Khalid and singer and guitarist Noma Nazir.
They played in public for the first time in December in Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir.
It won them third place in an annual Battle of the Bands rock show organized by an Indian paramilitary force as part of a campaign to win hearts and minds in the region.
Soon after the show Kashmiri pages on social networking sites like Facebook hotly debated the band.
Some questioned whether the performance was appropriate in the Muslim-dominated region.
