Girls from the rock band ‘Praagaash’, who hit headlines as the first girl rock band from the state of Kashmir in India, have been forced to dissolve the band. The band was forced to call it quits due to constant threatening calls and malicious online posts. The girls rose to fame, as they were placed in the third position in Srinagar’s ‘Battle Of The Bands’ contest in the month of December 2012.
The girls – Aneeqa Khalid, Noma Nazir and Farah Deeba have drawn inspiration from Metallica, Iron Maiden, Green Day and Cradle of Filth. 15-year-old Khalid, the bass guitarist of Praagash, after the competition said, “We were getting all this attention and a standing ovation. Then we got other offers to play.”
While breaking the band the members said that they have given up music as they respect the decree also known as ‘fatwa’, which is issued by the Grand Mufti Bashiruddin Ahmad, who called singing as ‘un-islamic’. Another member of the band said that Kashmir is not the place for music and if anyone wants to learn music then they have to move out of the state.
The person who issued the Fatwa also said that he was happy that the band have quit and congratulated them and their parents.
