Humans serve humans, Muslims serve Hindus, humans serve humans
[ by Charles Cameron — reminders — from July ]
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Humans:
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The image above:
Mosques Served Hindus With Open Arms In Gaya. Great, Right?
It is the same country we are talking about where chants of intolerance had been, since a few months, at its apex, where communal disharmony had been a routine and where cows had driven on to kill another. It is true that good too blossoms amidst the bad. Intolerance does flip to tolerance. The bitter lips do better to spread love around. Likewise, the imams of mosques too lovingly served water to the heat-ridden Hindu pilgrims.
Such news surfaces up to rekindle our lost faith in the unison of the two rival faiths.
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The backstory of religious tolerance should not be forgotten:
How a Hindu temple was renovated by a Muslim and a Sufi shrine revamped by a Sikh in Pakistan
Today as thousands of devotees pay homage to the patron saint of Lahore every day, it is conveniently forgotten that a Sikh Maharani played a crucial role in the development of this shrine, just as the fact about a Muslim concubine of the Maharaja renovating a Hindu temple has faded from memory.
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Sad that we need to be reminded:
Muslims serving Hindu devotees during annual Kanwar Yatra: Communal harmony project-37
The photograph on the left shows a Muslim man providing first-aid to a Hindu devotee, termed Kanwaria [Kanwariya]–youth taking the Kanwar.
The other photograph shows Muslim men offering sherbet to the devotees passing by the town.
[ CC note: I haven’t included the photos here on Zenpundit for reasons of space, but you can see them at the link]
These photographs need to be published here because mainstream media doesn’t provide space to them and ignores such examples of communal harmony.
During Muslim processions, Hindus offer sherbet at many places. And in case of Hindu processions, Muslim youths too offer their services. This is Indian culture.
Unfortunately, we live in an era when even such gestures, that are common in towns, need to be photographed and shared.
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A hero, plain and simple:
Sheikh Saleem Gafoor did what any decent human being would do. The 37-year-old bus driver saved those in his care and in the process, saved himself.
Bullets are indiscriminate. They don’t choose their targets with care.
Sheikh had the presence of mind to get out of there. He did that. He did not idly sit behind the wheel and think: These are a bunch of Hindus, so let them die.
So, let’s not demean his actions by defining him by his religion. That’s patronising and presumptuous.
It only underscores the sentiment that we, the majority are surprised that a Muslim would do this.
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There’s clearly an extraordinary story to be told here:
Muslims perform last rites of Hindu in Kashmir Valley
It was seen that about 3,000 people belonging to two different communities gathered to perform the last rites of the Kashmiri Pandit. They not only participated in it but also took part in doing all the arrangements of the funeral. Rising above religious lines, Muslim people actively took part in the funeral of a Hindu. Be it may the making of flower garlands which are kept above the body or carrying it to the cremation pyre, Muslim community took part in each and every ritual. According to the relatives and neighbours of the late Tej Kishan, he was a great example of communal harmony as he decided to stay back in Kashmir Valley with his Muslim brethren during the tumultuous years of 90s, when all Pandits were leaving the region due to militancy. Thus, the effort of one man, who showed courage at that time when others decided to quit had served a long way in uniting people of different religious communities.
