(REOPENS DES31)

Meanwhile, over 350 Internet users have supported an online petition demanding that the grand mufti steps down following his decree against 'Pragaash'. "This is in context to your recent fatwa against the all-girl band Pragaash. This is less a fatwa and more a direct, misogynistic threat to silence young girls who have chosen for themselves a career path untrodden by women of Kashmir," the online petition initiated by Obaid Bashir read. "Mr Grand Mufti you have forgotten that Kashmir has a long tradition of Kashmiriyat and Kashmiriyat is an expression of solidarity and resilience regardless of religious differences...Your nefarious and illogical fatwas have caused more harm than they have done any good," the petition read. It said women in music industry is nothing new in Kashmir. The petition also questioned the cleric's silence over the participation of women in singing and dancing programmes organised by the government.