Repeated attempts by this correspondent to contact the girls failed. “They don’t want to speak to the media. In fact, the families have been advised against making any public comments on the issue,” said a family friend of one of them.
Also, it is learnt that the girls and their families are disinclined to accept security from the government on the plea it would make them more vulnerable. Incidentally, the father of one of them, an actor and a playwright, is already a “protected person”.
However, plainclothesmen are keeping a close watch on the movements around their respective residences here. Also, the CRPF, which had sponsored the annual “Battle of the Bands” competition in Srinagar on December 2012 at which the girls’ rock-band had won first prize after its scintillating performance has reportedly put its local units on alert.
Meanwhile, Aneeka Khalid has left for Bangaluru, where her maternal uncle lives. She may stay there “till the dust settles”. The two others, Noma Nazir and Farah Deeba, are in Srinagar. All three families were visited by Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Sayeda Aasiya Andrabi on Tuesday to “explain how hurtful girls’ pastime could be for the Kashmiri society and remind their parents of their responsibilities and the teachings of Islam.”