Mufti Azam or Grand Mufti of Kashmir chose to issue a formal decree against what he called is “trivial act” in the belief it does not develop a society but is a first step to demolish its moral fabric. He said here, “I’m happy that the new generation has attained a pro-development and pro-religion stance but there are some girls treading on the path of destruction.
They should stop from such activities and not to get influenced by the support of political leadership.”
Both he and Syed-Ali Shah Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference slammed chief minister Omar Abdullah over his openly coming in support of the rock band called “Pragaash (morning light)”which has three teenage girls on it including vocalist-guitarist Noma Nazir, drummer Farah Deeba and Guitarist Aneeka Khalid. Mr Abdullah had on Saturday tweeted “The talented teenagers should not let themselves be silenced by a handful of morons.” He also dismissed the Grand Mufti’s decree on his Twitter page on Sunday but removed the Tweet later.
Geelani-led Hurriyat Conference slammed the chief minister for “expressing unnecessary support to a shameless act”. However, main Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) also chose to throw its lot behind the rock band. Its spokesperson Naeem Akhtar said, “Civil society should keep the equilibrium. We should not make it a gender war. Does the fatwa mean that men are allowed to perform and only females are restricted.” He added “Music is part of our spiritual culture since decades. There has to be a freedom. Kashmiris have been listening to female singers like Raj Begum, Zoon Begum and others since generations. Does it mean that those who used to listen to them are still doing so are non-Muslims?” He also called for maintaining “balance in issuing fatwas.”
Though the girls, for obvious reasons, are maintaining silence, their parents are reported to be very upset over the development and have succeeded in persuading them to abandon their pastime “for now.” However, one of them when contacted by this correspondent over the phone on Monday evening said “All I can say is; please leave us alone.” Sources close to the families said that the girls have also been advised by their parents and well-wishers not to speak to media on the controversy.
The girls’ rock band came to limelight in December 2012 after their scintillating performance at the annual ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition here. But soon they started receiving online threats and absurd comments in social networking sites, forcing them to keep a low profile.