Fatwa for Female Rock Band in Kashmir

Some days it seems like every time the world takes two steps forward in the fight for equality, it takes one step back.

West Point Cadet Accompanied by his Date (Source: Knights Out Twitter)

This week there have been major advances for the LGBT community. Just last night in the UK we had a historic victory for equality with the signing of the gay marriage bill. In the US, the military has shown how far it has come since repealling DADT by circulating lovely pictures of a male West Point cadet taking his civilian boyfriend to a winter formal.

However while the LGBT community is celebrating (and rightly so) there has been a major step backwards for women in Kashmir. The first all-female, Kashmiri rock band, Pragraash, has decided to disband. The 16-year-old vocalist, Noma Nazir, and two 15-year-olds, drummer Farah Deeba and guitarist Aneeka Khalid, were the target of a campaign of virulent abuse via social networking sites. People flocked to the internet to leave comments like ‘These band girlz should be gang rapped’ and ‘shameless bithches they should be hanged’ [sic].

Initially the band decided to retreat from live performances and continue to make an album but the last straw came in the form of a fatwa against them from the Supreme Court of Islamic Shariat, headed by Grand Mufti Mohammad Bashiruddin. In his statement he linked the band’s activities to the gang rape and murder of an, as yet unnamed, 23 year old student in Delhi a few months back. The three girls have all announced that they will completely refrain from playing music in the future.

The Runaways: One of the first female rock bands (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to one of the girls who spoke anonymously to BBC Hindi the band didn’t understand why a fatwa had been issued; “There are many artists from Kashmir who are performing. But they did not issue a fatwa against them.” She stops short of explicitly mentioning gender but the implications are very clear. It is not surprising but it is depressing. The double standard is egregious and unrepentant. However perhaps more insidious is the idea that women are in anyway to blame for rape. Even in countries that purport to support equal rights for women this idea continues to permeate attitudes toward rape victims.

Victim blaming is alive and well in the UK and US as was seen when MP for Gloucester, Richard Graham, said short skirts and high heels make you likely to get raped and an NYT report on an 11-year-old gang rape victim highlighted her make up and grown up clothing. This attitude is no different from the Great Mufti who claims women “given freedom to roam around, sing and dance,” causes gang rape and hardline separatists who released a statement that said “No noble family will allow their girls to choose dancing as a profession which is a thing of pleasure for strangers”. Attempts to place the blame on women consistently fail to address the real problem. Telling your daughters not to wear revealing clothing or be in a rock band is not nearly as important as teaching your sons to respect people and not rape them. Make no mistake; rape is not a female issue, it is a male issue.

Despite the appalling misogyny of many, there are some hopeful signs. The band first came to prominence during a Battle of the Bands competition where they placed third and they continue to have the support of the Chief Government Officer Omar Abdulla who has promised a full police investigation into the worst of the social media abuse though he was not willing to go against the Great Mufti’s fatwa. There has also been an outpouring of support from India, specifically from Vishal Dadlani, who offered the girls a recording contract in Mumbai and begged them not to stop making music ‘due to the fear of some random lunatics’. The pressure at home has been too much for the girls however and, with their families facing social exclusion from society, they have decided to stop playing completely. It is a sad outcome for rock music and for women everywhere.

More on Pragraash + Bonus West Point Boys and Gay Marriage

• All-Girl Rock Band Breaks Up After Fatwa Triggers Threats Of Rape And Violence (buzzfeed.com)
• Kashmir girl band quits after fatwa (dawn.com)
• Curtains down for Kashmir’s all-girl band (thehindu.com)
• West Point Alumni Group Proudly Posts Photos of Gay Cadet Taking Boyfriend to Winter Formal (Gawker.com)
• Gay Marriage: Party Leaders Welcome MP’s Backing for Bill (BBC.com)