Amid rains, Muslims perform last rites of Pandit in Tahab Pulwama

Pulwama, Nov 10  : In yet another instance of communal harmony, the local Muslims in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district helped perform last rites of an 70-year-old Kashmiri Pandit, who died on Wednesday.

Setting an example of communal harmony and brotherhood, the local Muslims in Tahab village of Pulwama came together to help perform the last rites of their pandit neighbour amid heavy downpour.

According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Makhan Lal Zutshi a retired PDD employee, a resident of Tahab village about 05 kilometers from Pulwama town was in Delhi where died of heart attack on Wednesday.

His body was brought back to his native village on Thursday evening and his cremation was down with the help of local Muslims on Friday noon.

As only a few of his family members were around, Makhan’s local friends and neighbors from the Muslim community took it upon themselves to help perform his last rites.

The local Muslims organized 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.

“He was one of us. We never thought of him as a KP. We arranged everything needed for the cremation,” said Mohammad Shaban a local resident.

He has been living here among them for many years. “We have lived alongside each other and done everything together,” said another local while participating in his last rites which were performed in local ground.

“We share a bond that goes back hundreds of years. When we heard about the sad news, all of us rushed to console the family members and arrange the last rites,” he added.

Zutshi is survived by a son who is a teacher and four daughters who all are married-(KNO).