Agencies/Srinagar
Jammu and Kashmir’s most senior Muslim cleric has called for the plug to be pulled on an all-girl rock group, calling the band “un-Islamic” and accusing them of “indecent” behaviour.
Pragaash (First Light) sprang to prominence last December when the high school trio, all of whom are Muslim, won an annual “Battle of Bands” competition held in Srinagar.
But the three-piece, whose members are all aged around 16, has since been the target of a cultural backlash in the state, including hate mail on their Facebook page.
The band has since stopped performing.
“When girls and young women stray from the rightful path and indulge in shameless and indecent behaviour... this kind of non serious activity (music) can become the first step towards our destruction,” the government-appointed Grand Mufti Bashiruddin Ahmad said on Sunday.
“Some girls who believe this mirage to be a real spring are set on a destructive path. They should stop in their tracks.”