SRINAGAR: Kashmir’s top clergyman, Mufti Azam Mufti Bashiruddin , on Sunday issued a “fatwa” against three Kashmiri girls for being part of a rock band which performed in Srinagar in December 2012.

The grand mufti said he has decreed against the girls because music is banned in Islam and girls should imbibe “better values” instead of vices.

“I issued the fatwa where I said to the girls that music is not good for society,” he said. “All bad things happening in the Indian society are because of music,” he added.

Mufti Azaam said, “The parents of the girls should try to correct erring teenage girls and teach them Islamic values instead of exhibiting them as source of entertainment for thousands of people. I will be forced to issue another fatwa if these girls and their parents do not take corrective measures to mend their ways.”

The mufti and other separatist groups issued statements and “fatwas” against the girls who have taken refuge in New Delhi after chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday offered support to them.

The three teenage girls – drummer Farah Deeba, guitarist Aneeka Khalid and vocalist-guitarist Noma Nazir – performed at a Srinagar stadium last December organized by Adnan Mattoo and Raheel Khurshid’s Bloodrockz. Their performance came under fire from conservative elements in Kashmiri society and they received threats.

Sources said Omar Abdullah has asked crime branch of the Jammu and Kashmir police to investigate the matter. He said on Twitter that he hoped the talented young girls would continue to pursue their goal and not let a handful of people silence them.

Hurriyat Conference faction headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Sunday expressed surprise over the way Omer Abdullah supported the girls saying that though in a civilized society there is no place for coercion and force but some values have to be adopted to safeguard the ethical, moral and religious traditions.

The Hurriyat faction spokesman Ayaz Akbar said that Kashmir being a sacred place of saints, there is no room for western culture.