The tragedy of Pragaash: Kashmir’s first girl band
In December 2012, a newly formed band made their live debut at a Battle of the Bands competition in the city of Srinagar, Kashmir. Pragaash was a rock trio who wrote and performed their own material. Even more impressively, the three members were all teenagers when they first came to prominence. But their most distinctive feature would also ultimately lead to their downfall: they were all women.
Guitarist Noma Nazir Bhatt, bassist Aneeqa Khalid, and drummer Farah Hassan were doing what millions of young aspiring rock musicians were doing as teenagers: taking lessons, practising in garages, and trying to compose their own songs. The group had made strong progress when they decided to enter the Battle of the Bands contest, where they competed with a small handful of other bands from around the region. In fact, the group were good enough to win the award for ‘Best Performance’.
But when footage of the band’s performance started to get posted online, their status as Kashmir’s first all-female band made them the subject of death and rape threats. The group’s Facebook page was bombarded with hateful rhetoric and violence. Even Kashmir Grand Mufti Bashiruddin Ahmad issued a fatwa against the group for violating sharia law.
“When girls and young women stray from the rightful path… this kind of non-serious activity can become the first step towards our destruction,” Ahmad claimed in a statement at the time. Other reactions from prominent Kashmir figures were mixed. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah initially supported the trio, with promises of investigations and protection for the young girls that were ultimately rescinded. However, some officials attempted to claim that the members were never in danger.
“Singing has been a part of our culture, and we have had many famous female artists from the region,” the president of the opposition People’s Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti said at the time. “There is no threat to the girls. Nobody has issued any threats. It is a mere propaganda by the media.” He also claimed that the torrent of abuse posted against the band could not be described as a threat.
With the extreme pushback to their very existence limiting their opportunities and putting them in serious danger, the members of Pragaash decided to break up rather than push back. “Just tell everyone we have quit,” the group told the BBC in February 2013. “We are no more a band”.
Despite online support from across the globe, Pragaash ended prematurely, putting an end to Kashmir’s first all-female band in what is a damning reality of young women hoping for a different future.
Watch footage from Pragaash’s one and only live performance down below.
