Entertainment / Music
First all-girl rock band in Kashmir disbands after threats
06 Feb 2013 at 07:14hrs | Views
In this photo taken on December 23, 2012 Kashmir’s first girl rock band Pragaash, or First Light, perform at the annual 'Battle of the Bands' in Srinagar. An all-girl teenage rock band from Indian-administered Kashmir has decided to quit after the region's top Muslim cleric declare
SRINAGAR, India - The first all-girl rock band in Indian-controlled Kashmir has decided to disband after only one concert because of threats its teenage members received on social media and a demand from a top Muslim cleric that they stop performing.
The fate of Pragaash, which means "First Light" in Kashmiri, highlights the simmering tension between modernity and tradition in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where an armed uprising against Indian rule and a relentless crackdown by government forces have killed more than 68,000 people since 1989. Separatists criticized the band for what it said was "Western-style cultural waywardness."
Adnan Mattoo, the rock group's music teacher and manager, said the three high school students who formed Pragaash - drummer Farah Deeba, bass guitarist Aneeqa Khalid and singer and guitarist Noma Nazir - won't talk about their decision to disband and what led to it.
The fate of Pragaash, which means "First Light" in Kashmiri, highlights the simmering tension between modernity and tradition in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where an armed uprising against Indian rule and a relentless crackdown by government forces have killed more than 68,000 people since 1989. Separatists criticized the band for what it said was "Western-style cultural waywardness."
Adnan Mattoo, the rock group's music teacher and manager, said the three high school students who formed Pragaash - drummer Farah Deeba, bass guitarist Aneeqa Khalid and singer and guitarist Noma Nazir - won't talk about their decision to disband and what led to it.
Source - NP
