M A I N   N E W S

Depressed, all-girl band member leaves Valley
Tribune News Service

Forced into silence ‘Pragaash’ made its first public performance at ‘Battle of Bands’ competition in Srinagar last December. The band members later faced hate messages on social networking sites On Sunday, Grand Mufti Mohammad Bashiruddin issued a ‘fatwa’ against the girls

Srinagar, February 4
A member of Kashmir’s beleaguered all-girl rock band has been sent hundreds of miles away from home to help her recover from depression caused by the ongoing controversy surrounding the band.

The band member has been sent to Bangalore, her family told The Tribune. A family member of the 16-year-old girl said she had slipped into depression after reading about the controversy surrounding her band.

“She had become very depressed with all this. So we sent her to Bangalore. Now she will have no contact with anyone for sometime,” the family member said. “It will help her recover. It was very important for her.”

The all-girl band, ‘Pragaash’, came into the limelight last December when the three girls made their first, and so far their last, public performance at the “Battle of Bands” competition held in the city, where they battled out against other boy bands.

Soon after the performance, the girls faced a vile barrage of abuses and hate messages on social networking websites, forcing them to disband ‘Pragaash’.

The girls had earlier said they had to go “underground” after their first performance as they felt threatened by the online hate buzz.

On Friday when the news of the girls quitting the band surfaced, it was met with mixed reaction, as many, including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, extended support to them.

But the band got a major jolt when region’s leading religious scholar Grand Mufti Mohammad Bashiruddin on Sunday issued a “fatwa” against the girls.

The fatwa - an edict issued by an Islamic scholar having the knowledge of theology, religious jurisprudence and law - has been issued by the Supreme Court of Islamic Shariat headed by Bashiruddin.

“Pragaash”, a Kashmiri word meaning “from darkness to light”, was the first all-girl rock band to emerge out of the Valley.

Women have become successful singers in Kashmir - singing folk songs, mystic poetry and romantic songs - but this time, the genre had made the difference.