Friday, February 8, 2013

How singing can be against any religion?

Recent news about the controversy related to the female Kashmiri music band 'Pragaash' caught my attention in electronic news media. This news came during the same period when there was controversy related to Kamal Hassan's latest movie "Vishwaroopam." I wrote a post related to cultural terrorism where I discussed this issue. This is another very good example of the same thing. Some person called Mufti Bashiruddin Ahmed said that singing and dancing are unIslamic, therefore, these girls should stop their band. I wonder whether he meant it's unIslamic only for females or for all Muslims because I see many Muslim artists in India, Pakistan or all over the world performing music, dance, and drama, but they didn't face anything backlash like this. I wonder where he was then and how come suddenly his religious conscious decided to speak about this girl's band? India has produced very famous Muslim artists like Mohammad Rafi, Amjad Ali Khan, Bismillah Khan, Dilip Kumar, Shahrukh, Amir, and Salman Khan. These are just a few names among many others and they all sing, dance, paint, play music, and act. I wonder what he has to say about these people? It seems these things are not unIslamic when done by men but just because that band was a girl's band, that too teenage girl, it became unIslamic and it was easy to scare them, and pressurize them that's why they targeted them.

Can someone please explain to me how singing, dancing, or performing any art can be against any religion or can be branded as an anti-religious activity? Even if any book says that it's against that religion then simply that book is wrong or it said it by mistake, no doubt about it. This doesn't make that book irrelevant and it is not in any way disrespectful to point out some mistakes from any book. Just ignore this part of that book and move on. Maybe when that book was written these things were considered a social taboo in that society and that's why was not recommended or permitted. Haven't we come far ahead of that time? We have left that era far behind, we acquired so much knowledge and our society is much more civilized now. We still continue to practice many good things that were part of our tradition but at the same time should get rid of all things that are totally outdated and not required anymore. But for some people, it's not that easy to understand this simple logic. They still want to bring back those days of gender discrimination. They still want to rule the world based on that one single book. They still dream of converting the whole world to their own religion and they are willing to go to any extent to do this.

Finally, this band was disassembled, and these girls quit under pressure. They say that they did it on their own and quit singing because of the people of Kashmir but I think everyone knows the real reason behind it. It's sad but what else they can do? Their options were very limited. I don't blame them. They chose to continue with their peaceful lives rather than risking their and their family's life just to run some music band whose future they don't know. Is this what that religion wants to teach to its disciplines? Do they have some logical reasons to explain why singing and dancing are against their religion? In our country why don't we have any proper system or mechanism which can work efficiently to protect such individuals if they decide to continue with their passion even if it's against some religion or sect if that passion or hobby is within the framework of law? Freedom of expression is a very important part of democracy. It allows it to grow and evolve. If we don't protect the freedom of expression, we are going to restrict the growth of our society and the growth of the country. Why people are so interested in pulling the country back rather than helping it to move forward?

There are many questions but very few answers. People themselves need to provide answers to this. We can not always look outside for reasons or solutions to problems. We need to understand that we all are part of the problem and have to be part of the solution also. We need to start looking for solutions ourselves. We must acknowledge first that there is a problem and it needs a solution and accept that we all are responsible for the problem and then together we can work towards the solution. Playing the blame game will not lead us anywhere. It can make matters worse but definitely won't offer any solution. I hope no other band has to close just because some people think that music and arts are against their religion. I hope some movie maker or artist doesn't have to edit the contents of his/her creation just to avoid blackmailing by some particular group. I hope these are just isolated incidents and don't become a new norm in our society. I hope.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)

References:
1. After fatwa band calls is quits
2. All girls band from Kashmir quits- The Hindu
3. Singing in unislamic, says Grand Mufti
4. Girls say they quit because of people of Kashmir

2 comments:

  1. "It is really sad that people sit in judgement.! Who are they to tell'anyone' what to do and what not to do"
    who are you to tell how others will or should or must live? God, Muhammad,Christ,Buddha, Mahavira ,etc... forbid what an individual human should express and in what way!
    Knowledge and intelligence is not private and personal property.It is imbibed in every individual as per his/her genes and the blessings of the Creator ...whatever name known by.
    "They know not how and what a human can 'live 'by......"

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    Replies
    1. true uncle...thats what creates problem..people getting judgmental about others...they judge everyone except themselves...

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