The threat published in several local Urdu dailies has asked women to desist from wearing un-Islamic outfits. A Lashkar release quoting its spokesman, Abdul Talaha Hazari, has fixed a deadline of one week, after which it says cadres of the outfit would use pistols, grenades and even acid against those defying the ban. Parents of those defying the ban shall be responsible for the consequences.

Lashkar-e-Toiba is considered the most formidable of all the outfits operating in the Valley. The outfit has a big presence of foreign militants in its ranks. This is for the first time the outfit has issued a ban. Only two months back, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen had issued a similar ban on tights, jeans and Cable TV operators, branding them un-Islamic. Days after the outfit imposed ban, at least four jean-clad girls were shot in the leg byunidentified men in downtown Srinagar. The ban against Cable TV resulted in instantaneous suspension of music and movie channels by the operators.

Last year also, in the month of Ramadhan, the outfit imposed a ban on Cable television on the pretext that they were "showing obscene programmes which led Muslim youth astray". The operators were asked not to consider business above religion. It was only after personal intervention by Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani that Cable operators resumed services.

However, about the latest ban by the Lashkar, Geelani said such things are always welcome but without the use of force. "It is true that such dresses are prohibited in Islam but efforts should be undertaken in this direction without resorting to weapons or throwing of acid. The need of the hour is to win over hearts and minds of the people by Islamic teaching which will automatically reflect on the dress code," he said.

The dress code controversy has surfaced quite often since the eruption ofmilitancy in the Valley. Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Nation), a non-militant pro-Pak organisation, was the first to propagate the use of burqa in the Valley.

The Millat cadres used to distribute burqas among the girls. However, for those who opposed purdah, the Millat workers used to throw colour on the face and body. The Millat workers were then assisted in their cause by another women's outfit, Muslim Khawateen Markaz, now non-existent.