Three young Kashmiri girls’ passion for music has been brought to a forceful end, thanks to the grand mufti’s ruling that music is un-Islamic, and the abusive and threatening online messages they received. The regressive forces in the State have succeeded in suppressing them. Suppressing talent and forcing someone to give up can certainly not support religious values.
Venus Kapatia,Ludhiana
Reassurances from the highest authorities, including Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, have apparently failed to convince the rock band girls, who have been forced to go into hiding. The failure of the State to secure its citizens’ safety and its nurturing of draconian laws like AFSPA have left the local populace doubly vulnerable — at the mercy of dreaded outfits like the Dukhataran-e-Millat. Such fundamentalist organisations have established their stranglehold over the spaces left unguarded by the state by striking terror, interfering in people’s routine activities, and putting in place a ‘moral code.’
Priya Singh,New Delhi
