Pulwama (Tral), May 3: A retired Sikh social activist and former leader of the Farmer Trade Union has donated a portion of his land in Tral’s Sehmu area to provide access to a Muslim graveyard, resolving a long-standing issue that had blocked the route for several years.
Pushvinder Singh, who has also served as an executive member of the JCCC and represented the Pulwama district, said the land leading to the Sheikh Mela Sehmu Barra graveyard had no proper access road for nearly four years.
He said he offered his land to create a six-foot-wide and ninety-foot-long passage so that local residents could take their dead to the graveyard without difficulty.
He said he resolved the issue by exchanging land with another landlord to ensure the way could be made available. “I changed my land and in return gave the land to another landlord,” he said. “I left these brothers six feet and ninety feet of way.”
He also said the local community plays an active role during burial processes. “If someone dies at night, even at 10 or 12, we consider them our mothers, our sisters, our aunts. At that time, our job is to arrange light, bring bricks for the grave, and stay until the burial is complete”.
Speaking about the broader community relations, Singh said the brotherhood between sub-districts in the area has existed for a long time, even before politics entered the region. He said, “When there was no politics here, there was only personal opinion. Even then, the brotherhood of the sub-districts existed.”
He said the bond between Sikhs and Muslims in Sehmu remains strong. “There is a Sikh house on one side and a Muslim house on the other. The rain water of both houses flows from one house to the other,” he said.
He also said language and culture are shared in the area. “If you go to the houses of Muslims, they will talk to us in our language, Punjabi,” he said. “Our daughters have grown up in their courtyard, and their daughters have grown up in our courtyard.”
Singh said disputes over land or property are resolved within the community itself. “Sometimes it’s about land, sometimes about the courtyard or property. But with God’s will and mercy, we sit down and solve them in our panchayat,” he said.
He said Kashmir has a tradition of coexistence and shared customs. “This is the land of Rishi Munis. This is where the message of peace and brotherhood goes to the whole world,” he said.(KB)
