Top fashion models face being hauled into court over a risqué fashion show in the mountains of Muslim Kashmir.

Scantily dressed male and female models in bikinis, pants and fitted ski-wear strutted on a snow-covered catwalk for a fashion show involving the Indian arm of Elle magazine.

The show by Shivan & Narresh, the well-known fashion brand, was held last Friday at Gulmarg, one of India’s top ski resorts.

But organisers have been forced to delete pictures and videos of the event which local opposition groups condemned as “soft porn” and “mocking the faith” of the local population during the holy month of Ramadan.

Kashmir is majority Muslim but administered by India, which has a strong Hindu nationalist government that has long been accused of cultural imposition.

The fashion show has opened up deep divisions in the region, which is also claimed by Pakistan. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s chief cleric, questioned how the show was allowed to go ahead in Kashmir, which is known for its Sufi culture.