No noble family will allow girls to become dancers: Hurriyat

Srinagar: Hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference on Sunday expressed surprise over Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's support for the Valley's only all-girls rock band, saying there is no room to nourish western culture and immoral values in the state. "Kashmir is a place of sufis and saints and there is no room to nourish western type of culture and immoral values," Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar said in a statement.

Though in a civilised society there is no place for coercion and force, there are some values a citizen has to adopt to safeguard the ethical and religious traditions, he said.

"Hurriyat Conference expresses regret and surprise over the support of Omar Abdullah," Akbar said. "As a matter of fact no noble family will allow their girls to choose their profession as a dancer so as to be a mere thing of pleasure for strangers," he said.

Akbar said Omar should have gone through history of Kashmir to find out the high regard and esteem bestowed upon women in order to save them from being sold as commodity. "It is a matter of concern for us the way Omar Abdullah backed the rock band because the dynasty he belongs to has since long disassociated itself from Islamic and ethical values," he said.

Referring to the reported threats being given to the rock band, the spokesman termed it "not good". "Instead, parents should have rectified the things and provided advice to their daughters that their activities were not as per ethics of Islam, culture and our unique identity," he said.

Omar had come out in support of the girls on Saturday saying police will probe the threats. "I hope these talented young girls will not let a handful of morons silence them," he said. The all-girls band, which came to limelight in late December last year after their performance at the annual 'Battle of the Bands' competition here, had defied the convention by stepping into the male-dominated field of music.

The girls' band has received abusive and hate messages on their Facebook page for defying convention by choosing the field of music.