India: Muslims helps with final rites for Kashmiri Pandit in Pulwama village

New Delhi, India: Muslims in Kashmir Pandit’s neighbourhood assisted his family in carrying out the final rituals on Monday after militants killed him in the village of Achan in the Pulwama district on February 27, 2023, informed the local news website.

Locals claimed that Muslim neighbours joined to assist with Sanjay Sharma’s final rites.

On Sunday, Sanjay Sharma (42), a bank guard in the Achan neighbourhood, was slain in front of his home.

As Sharma’s family is the only Pandit family in the village, his friends and the Muslim neighbours decided to assist with the funeral services today.

In addition, they carried his casket and set up the wood for the cremation. “He belonged to us. We never considered him to be a KP. We set up everything required for the cremation,” a local resident named Mudasir Ahmad stated.

He said that they had coexisted and carried out all activities together. “We have a connection that has existed for hundreds of years. We all hurried to comfort the grieving family members as soon as we learned the sad news, and today we set up everything to assist in carrying out the funeral rites,” he continued.

Sanjay’s family members also claimed that the village’s Muslims always assisted them in times of need and refrained from meddling in matters of faith.

They made the remainder of the arrangements and claimed that they (Muslims) sit at a distance when a ceremony needs to be performed by a Pandit.