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SRINAGAR: Muslim neighbours on Monday joined and helped in the last rites of Sanjay Kumar Sharma, the Kashmiri Pandit bank guard slain by terrorists the previous day in Pulwama district.
The Sharmas are the only Pandit family in Achan village, and his Muslim friends and neighbours took it upon themselves to do all they could in his funeral.
“He (Sanjay) was one of us. We never thought of him as a Pandit,” said Mudasir Ahmad, among those who shouldered the coffin and arranged wood for the cremation.
The killing of Sanjay, 40, was among the first such targeted strikes so far this year by the terrorists who, along with Pandits, have trained their guns on migrants. Sanjay was gunned down when he was going to buy grocery from a shop near his home Sunday morning. He is survived by his wife and brother.
Ahmad recalled a lifetime spent together in friendship and brotherhood. “We share a bond that goes back hundreds of years. When we heard this sad news, all of us rushed to console the family (of Sanjay) and did all to help,” he said.
Sanjay’s relatives echoed the sentiments, pointing out that Muslims in the village always helped them in need while taking care not to meddle in their religious affairs.
“They (Muslims) kept a distance (Monday) when a (funeral) ritual was to be done by our priest but made all arrangements for the cremation,” a relative said.
Amid the funeral, J&K ADGP Vijay Kumar visited Pulwama, reviewed security in the aftermath of the terror strike. He ordered police and paramilitary forces to enhance counter-insurgency operations in the district and step up intelligence gathering.
In Jammu, Pandits working in Kashmir under a special PM scheme protested Sanjay’s killing and reiterated demands for relocation outside the Valley. Many such people under the Prime Minister Package Employees (Kashmiri Pandit community members) and reserved-category staffers from Jammu shifted to their home bases following the killing of two Pandits, Rahul Bhat and Rajini Bala, by terrorists in May last year.
(Inputs from Sanjay Khajuria in Jammu)
The Sharmas are the only Pandit family in Achan village, and his Muslim friends and neighbours took it upon themselves to do all they could in his funeral.
“He (Sanjay) was one of us. We never thought of him as a Pandit,” said Mudasir Ahmad, among those who shouldered the coffin and arranged wood for the cremation.
The killing of Sanjay, 40, was among the first such targeted strikes so far this year by the terrorists who, along with Pandits, have trained their guns on migrants. Sanjay was gunned down when he was going to buy grocery from a shop near his home Sunday morning. He is survived by his wife and brother.
Ahmad recalled a lifetime spent together in friendship and brotherhood. “We share a bond that goes back hundreds of years. When we heard this sad news, all of us rushed to console the family (of Sanjay) and did all to help,” he said.
Sanjay’s relatives echoed the sentiments, pointing out that Muslims in the village always helped them in need while taking care not to meddle in their religious affairs.
“They (Muslims) kept a distance (Monday) when a (funeral) ritual was to be done by our priest but made all arrangements for the cremation,” a relative said.
Amid the funeral, J&K ADGP Vijay Kumar visited Pulwama, reviewed security in the aftermath of the terror strike. He ordered police and paramilitary forces to enhance counter-insurgency operations in the district and step up intelligence gathering.
In Jammu, Pandits working in Kashmir under a special PM scheme protested Sanjay’s killing and reiterated demands for relocation outside the Valley. Many such people under the Prime Minister Package Employees (Kashmiri Pandit community members) and reserved-category staffers from Jammu shifted to their home bases following the killing of two Pandits, Rahul Bhat and Rajini Bala, by terrorists in May last year.
(Inputs from Sanjay Khajuria in Jammu)
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