Active until 2013 | Associated acts Best Performance award Origin Jammu and Kashmir (2012) | |
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Years active December 10, 2012 - February 29, 2013 Similar Aneeka, Kailash Mehra Sa, Nicky Tirta, MC Kash, Kashmir | ||
Pragash (from Sanskrit prakash, meaning 'light') was an all-girl Kashmiri rock band formed by three teenage Muslim girls of prestigious Presentation Convent High School. The band was formed in December 2012 and received controversy from Islamic scholars, who claimed that the band members allegedly broke the codes of Islam due to which the band became unexpectedly famous and people also claimed that the band became popular due to the controversies and not because of their music as the guitarists were aware of only about 4 or 5 chords. The band members all received threats of death, rape, and other physical harm, as well as a fatwa from Grand Mufti, which prompted them to quit the band.
Contents
History
The band made their first public appearance on December 10, 2012 when they participated in a Battle of Bands competition in Srinagar, where they received the award for "Best Performance".
Death threats
Shortly after their win at the Battle of Bands, the group began to receive death and rape threats via their cell phones and Facebook profiles. The Grand Mufti publicly criticized the band, stating that they were exhibiting "indecent behaviour" and that "this kind of non-serious activity can become the first step towards our destruction". On February 3, 2013 he issued a fatwa against the group, stating that music was "not good for society" and that all of the "bad things happening in the Indian society are because of music". Later that same month the police registered a First Information Report against the online attackers and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ordered a probe in the matter. In February 2013 three people were taken into custody and arrested for "promoting enmity between classes" and "criminal intimidation".
The band has received a large amount of global online support. The group initially received expressions of support and offers of security for the band from Chief Minister Omar Abdullah via Twitter, but he later deleted his tweets.
Band Members
Popular culture
1)The band is cited in Marlon James's Man Booker Prize winning novel A Brief History of Seven Killings as "First Ray of Light˜.
2) Inspired from the all female band's ordeals, Mohan Das - an accomplished film director from Mumbai made a Docufeature on same name 'PRAGAASH' which traces the reason and the disappearance of the first all girl band in the valley after being issued fatwa by the Mufti. It also throws light on the situation of today's Kashmir that is "No More a Troubled Paradise" - albeit showing Kashmir a safer tourist place. The Film was duly censored and was released on the 20th of July 2014. It also went on to bag the Best Director Award at DIFF 2015 for Mohan Das.
3)Inspired from the female band, Abhigyan Bahuguna, a medical student made a short film 'PARIHA', the land of fairies.It was released on the 25th of December 2015.