Shah Basit
The local Muslims in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district helped in performing the last rites of a 62-year-old Kashmiri Pandit, who died on Saturday.
Setting an example of communal harmony and brotherhood, the local Muslims village Tullamulla came together to help perform the last rites of their Pandit neighbour.
Bansi Lal Pandit resident of Batpora Tullamulla village about 5 kilometer from Ganderbal town was a known figure in the area, according to the locals.
He was working in Postal services for a long time and is knowing for helping the locals irrespective of their faith and belief.
As only a few of his family members were around, Lal’s local friends and neighbours from the Muslim community took it upon themselves to help perform his last rites, locals told The Kashmiriyat.
The local Muslims organised and performed his last rites and mourned his death as one of their own. They shouldered his coffin and arranged wood for the cremation in the village, Bilal Bhat a local said.
“He was one of us. We never thought of him as another. We arranged everything needed for the cremation,” said another local resident, a middle-aged man from the locality.
“He has been living here among us for since his birth . We have lived alongside each other and done everything together,” he said, adding that people from other adjacent areas also visited the residence to sympathise with the bereaved family members.
Lal’s relatives speaking to The Kashmiriyat said that Muslims of the village always help them in times of need and they do not intervene in the religious affairs.
“They (Muslims) sit at a distance when a ritual has to be done by a Pandit, but the rest of the arrangements were arranged by them,” they said.
The members of the minority community expressed their gratitude to local Muslims for standing by their side through thick and thin.