Muslim friends make Diwali bright for Hindu family: IBNLive.com > Videos
FRIENDS FOR LIFE: Muslim neighbours brigtened Diwali for a lone Hindu family in Lolob, Jammu and Kashmir State, India.
Muslim friends make Diwali bright for Hindu family
By Mufti Islah / CNN-INDIA
Published on Friday , November 09, 2007 at 17:26
Lolab (JAMMU AND KASHMIR): In Lolab, a border town in Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, a poor solitary Hindu family is celebrating Diwali, courtesy some contributions from Muslim neighbours.
An old Hindu widow, fondly called Rita ji by villagers, is lighting candles with Muslim children for the first time in 40 years. It's the only Hindu family in the entire Lolab valley after ten Kashmiri pandit families fled during the period of militancy in 1990.
However, this Diwali is not going to be a dark one for Rita and her son Rinku as they have got candles and crackers from their Muslim neighbours.
A resident, Ghulam Rasool says, “We contributed the money so that they could celebrate Diwali. We always pool money for them whenever they are distressed.''
Rita, a Bengali woman, was married to a Kashmiri pandit more than 40 years ago. After her husband died, she brought up her two daughters — who are now married — and son Rinku with great difficulty.
She’s struggled to make ends meet but this Diwali she does not want to reminisce about the past.
She says, “We have no money. The government keeps promising us."
Her son, Rinku says, “I wanted to buy the candles myself but could not.”
Kashmiriyat, the way of life in the Valley, has remained intact despite Hindus fleeing during the height of militancy. Even if such occasions are rare, with this act of generosity, the centuries old Hindu-Muslim bond has passed the litmus test.