Umaisar Gull Ganie
Kulgam, Dec 7: Setting an example of communal harmony and brotherhood, the local Muslims in Begam village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam Tuesday performed the last rites of their 75-year-old Hindu neighbor.
Lajwanti Devi, a resident of Begam village in Kulgam district was a Kashmiri Rajput Hindu and died at the age of 75 today morning after a brief illness. However, her last rites were performed by local Muslims.
The Muslim neighbours joined hands to carry out all the formalities for the deceased woman’s last rites, in line with the cremation practices of Kashmiri Pandits.
“She was one of us. We never thought of her as a Hindu. We arranged everything needed for the cremation,” Abdul Rashid Khanday, a local said.
“She has been living here among us for many years,” he said.
Rajinder Singh, her son said Kashmiri Muslims and Pandits are equal and this bonding is eternal. “The brotherhood and communal harmony is everlasting and these gatherings are one such example of it,” he said.
