India's Grand Mufti seen enjoying concert after declaring music 'un-Islamic'

A video clip of Grand Mufti Bashiruddin Ahmad, the ceremonial leader of Muslims in the state, apparently enjoying an evening of Kashmiri ghazals, musical poems, and Punjabi folk tunes, quickly went viral on YouTube as political leaders accused him of hypocrisy.

The fatwa was backed by the Darul Uloom Deobandi seminary, one of the world's most influential centres of Islamic jurisprudence. It provoked a public debate over freedom of expression in Kashmir, which, while Muslim-dominated, has traditionally been a more liberal culture than in the Arab Islamic world.

Kashmir's chief minister Omar Abdullah defended their right to perform following the Mufti's fatwa, but the threats intimidated the group, called Pragaash, and its members decided to disband.

Shehla Rashid, a Kashmiri activist for freedom of speech and supporter of the girl band Pragaash, said the Grand Mufti had been wrong to denounce singing, but she would not criticise his choice to attend a concert.

"It doesn't matter whether the so-called Grand Mufti listens to music or not. His statement was uncalled for. He should respect freedom of expression," she said.

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568301/s/2f428fbd/sc/8/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cworldnews0Casia0Cindia0C10A20A72990CIndias0EGrand0EMufti0Eseen0Eenjoying0Econcert0Eafter0Edeclaring0Emusic0Eun0EIslamic0Bhtml/story01.htm

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