SRINAGAR: The first all-girl rock band in occupied Kashmir has decided to disband after only one concert because of threats its teenage members received on social media and a demand from a top Muslim cleric that they stop performing.

The fate of Pragaash, which means “First Light” in Kashmiri, highlights the simmering tension between modernity and tradition in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where an armed uprising against Indian rule and a relentless crackdown by government forces have killed more than 68,000 people since 1989.

Separatists criticised the band for what it said was “Western-style cultural waywardness.''

Adnan Mattoo, the rock group's music teacher and manager, said the three high school students who formed Pragaash—drummer Farah Deeba, bass guitarist Aneeqa Khalid and singer and guitarist Noma Nazir—won't talk about their decision to disband and what led to it.

“They feel terribly scared and want an immediate end to this controversy once for all,” Mattoo said on Tuesday.

“First, the girls had decided to quit live performance due to an online hate campaign and concentrate on making an album. But after an edict by the government's own cleric, these girls are saying goodbye to music.”

However, a girl identified as one of the band members told India's CNN-IBN channel later on Tuesday in a telephone interview that the group decided to disband because of the top cleric’s edict, and not because of the online abuse. The girl was not identified by name.

The girl told the station that they respected the cleric’s decision because he was “more aware of our religion” and she pleaded with the media to stop reporting on the case. ''Everything was going fine till the fatwa was issued,” she said.—AP