Humanity over hate: Muslims lay to rest destitute Hindu woman

hindu -muslim unity

Hope is the antidote to despair it is said. Re-affirming faith in the doctrine, at the time when silent tension is simmering in the Hindu and Muslim communities after the Ayodhya land dispute verdict, an uncle and nephew pair from Maner, Patna have displayed another example of humanity and communal harmony.

Chandu Khan and his nephew Javed Khan, members of the Muslim community, cremated an elderly Hindu woman, Daulatiya Devi, not just according to Hindu customs and rituals, but also prepared for ‘Dashkarma’ and ‘Brahmbhoj’.

Daulatiya Devi, who stayed alone in Meera Chak area after the demise of her husband, did not have any children or relatives to look after her. She used to survive on alms gathered from people in the area, after she could no longer run the small grocery shop due to old age. She passed away last week, and her body was found in a ruined house, orphaned.

The news of her death spread to nearby areas. That is when Chandu Khan from Qazi Mohalla stepped up to the occasion and decided to conduct her last rites. He called his nephew Javed to help with the funeral. Given that she was Hindu, Javed was cautious at first, but got reassured after visiting the Ward Councilor Amol Bajaj with his uncle. They performed the funeral and rituals as per Hindu customs at the Ganga Ghat in Haldi Chhapra. Chandu Khan lit the funeral pyre. This move by was appreciated and supported by everyone from the community.

This humane act by Chandu and Javed has reignited the ‘sufiyana tehzeeb’ that India is known for.

But this is not the first incident where communities pitted against each other (as per popular narrative) have come to each other’s rescue. In Ahmedabad this year, three Muslim brothers in Gujarat laid to rest their father’s friend, a Brahmin, as per Hindu rituals.

In Assam’s Kamrup district, a group of Muslim villagers performed the last rites of a Hindu man who had stayed at his Muslim friend’s residence with his family for the past 25 years.

There is no dearth of incidents in India that portray Hindu-Muslim harmony and communal respect. It is only due to fascist propaganda that the harmony spread at the grassroots does not make its way to us so as to portray the reality that humanity has continued to pervade over hate.

The right wing regime has always demonized the minorities – be it by making them targets of lynch mobs or bringing about amendments to the law to weed them out of the country altogether. Chandu and Javed’s act has not only shown their tolerance and benevolence, but has also chipped away a little at the undignified story spun around them by practicing humanity over hate.