Know about ‘Pragash, Kashmir’s first all-girl band

Pragash Band, an all girls rock band from Kashmir have decided to stop singing, after receiving a string of death and rape threats on their social media pages, as well as on their mobile phones.

While staunch Islamists condemned them, support for them poured in on social networking sites. Even Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed his support for them.
Here are five things you know about Pragash Band:

•  The girls, vocalist-guitarist Noma Nazir (16), drummer Farah Deeba and Guitarist Aneeka Khalid (both 15), who defied convention to form the rock band “Pragash” (darkness to light) came to the limelight in December 2012 after their performance at the annual Battle of the Bands competition.
• Though there are dozens of bands currently playing music of different genres in the Kashmir Valley,  Pragash was the first all-girls rock band.
• The band had won the best performance award in their first public appearance.
• The girls are undergoing training at a musical academy called Band Inn.
• At least three pages have come up on Facebook in their support in the past three days, urging them not to be cowed down by the hate mongers. ‘I support Pragaash, Kashmir’s first all-girls’ rock band’ is the most popular page with more than 1,000 ‘likes’ since it was created less than two days ago in Facebook.

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