AHMEDABAD: Humanity broke the shackles of religion when three Muslim brothers in a
Gujarat
town embraced
Hindu
customs and rituals for a day to give their father's dear friend of four decades, a
Brahmin
, the funeral he would have wanted.
Bhanushankar Pandya's adopted family in
Savarkundla
town of
Amreli district
is as conservative as they come. Brothers Abu, Naseer and Zuber Qureshi, who earn a living working as daily-wage labourers, offer namaz five times a day and have never skipped a Ramzan fast.
But when it came to performing the last rites of Pandya, who had been living with them for years, the siblings had no qualms about wearing dhotis and a janoi (sacred thread) each on Sat-urday to cremate their "uncle". "When Bhanushankar uncle was on his death bed, we procured Ganga jal for him from a Hindu family. When he passed away, we told our neighbours that we wanted to perform his last rites in accordance with rituals followed by Brahmin families. We were told that the j anoi was a must to lift the bier. We readily agreed to it," Zuber said.
The pyre was lit by Naseer's son Arman. "We are also going to have Arman's head tonsured on the 12th day because that is the custom Hindus follow," Naseer said.
Bhikhu Qureshi, his father, and Bhanushankar had been friends since they first met as labourers over four decades ago. Bhikhu died three years ago, leaving Bhanushankar broken.
“Bhanushankar uncle did not have a family; so when he fractured his leg many years ago, our father asked him to move in with us. He became part of our family," Abu said. "Our children used to address him as ‘Dada’ and our wives would touch his feet to seek his blessings. Uncle would wholeheartedly participate in Eid festivities, never forgetting to buy gifts for the kids,” his brother Naseer added.
Till Bhanushankar lived, the Qureshis would separately prepare pure vegetarian meals for him.
The family's acts of kindness haven't gone unnoticed. Parag Trivedi, vice-president of the Amreli Jilla Brahm Samaj, said, “By performing Bhanushankar's last rites in accordance with Hindu rituals, Abu, Naseer and Zuber have set an example in communal harmony.”
Read this story in Bengali
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