Fatwa issued against all-girl rock group in Kashmir
Kashmiri muslim protesters shout pro-freedom slogans as they sit in a vehicle, during an anti-India protest, in Srinagar on the first day of Ramadan on August 12, 2010.
The only famous all-girl rock group in Kashmir is calling it quits after receiving death threats. The group had faced constant threats and abuses for defying gender roles in Kashmir's male-dominated, religious society, PTI reported. The threats were ramped up when Kashmir's top cleric called them "un-Islamic" and issued a Fatwa against them.
“I have said, singing is not in accordance with Islamic teachings,” The Grand Mufti Bashiruddin Ahmad told PTI.
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The three teenagers — drummer Farah Deeba, guitarist Aneeka Khalid and vocalist-guitarist Noma Nazir — started their band in December when they registered to be in a "Battle of the bands" contest, The Hindustan Times reported. They were soon criticized for being "immodest."
"Just tell everyone we have quit. We are no more a band," one of the members of the group Pragaash told BBC News today.
Kashmir is one of India's only Muslim-majority states and has been subject to violent insurgencies since 1989, the BBC said. Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has promised to protect the teens and investigate the threats.