Brotherhood Beyond Boundaries : Muslims perform last rites of Kashmiri Pandit in Ganderbal

Ganderbal, July 28: In a moving display of communal harmony, local Muslims in Wakura village of Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district came together to perform the last rites of a Kashmiri Pandit, Surinder Koul, who passed away on Monday.Surinder Koul, a respected member of the community and was working at the local court, had chosen to stay in Kashmir during the turbulent 1990s when the majority of Kashmiri Pandits migrated from the Valley. Known for his humility and helpful nature, Koul shared close bonds with his Muslim neighbours. “As soon as we heard about his death, we immediately gathered and arranged everything for his cremation as per Hindu rituals,” said a local Muslim resident. “He was not just a neighbour but a family member to us all.”Muslim men were seen carrying the hearse to the cremation ground and assisting in the entire cremation process. Hundreds of villagers, including women and children, gathered to pay their last respects, highlighting the spirit of brotherhood that still thrives in the Valley. “This is the real Kashmir. Our culture is rooted in coexistence and compassion, not division,” said one of the mourners.The gesture has been widely appreciated and seen as a shining example of Kashmir’s age-old composite culture and interfaith harmony. “This is real Kashmir. We have been living together for decades and are emotionally linked to each other,” said a Pandit mourner, adding that “Muslims have always been supporting them and they feel incomplete with Pandits. This brotherhood is beyond boundaries and will continue to be like this forever.”