Pulwama: Spreading a message of unity and brotherhood, around 3,000 people, mostly Muslims, gathered in Pulwama’s Trichal village to attend the final rites of a local Kashmiri Pandit.

Pulwama: Spreading a message of unity and brotherhood, around 3,000 people, mostly Muslims, gathered in Pulwama’s Trichal village to attend the final rites of a local Kashmiri Pandit.

Fifty-year-old Tej Kishan, who lived in a Muslim-dominated area here, died after remaining paralysed for one-and-a-half years at his home. The Muslim community helped the family perform the last rites of Kishan as per the Hindu rituals.

“This is true Kashmir; this is our culture and we share brotherhood. We do not believe in duality or divisive politics. We share composite culture,” said Janki Nath Panditha, deceased’s brother.

Tej Kishan decided to stay back in the Valley during the tumultuous years of 90s, when a majority of the population of the Kashmiri Pandit community chose to move out of the region due to threat from the Islamist Kashmiri militancy.

“A majority of people present during the last rites were Muslims. We condemn incidents which try to create differences between Hindus and Muslims. We live here in peace and harmony,” said Muhammad Yousuf, Kishan’s neighbour. Another relative of the deceased said the villagers live in peace and harmony without any communal tension.

Kishan never left his native place saying that he grew up here with his Muslim friends and he would prefer to die among his own people. As soon as the news about his demise spread in the region, several Muslim friends rushed to the hospital to bring back his body to his ancestral home. Kishan’s Muslim neighbours spread the word about performing his last rites through mosque loudspeakers in the entire region.