CHANDIGARH:
In a giant leap toward religious harmony, the Hindu and Sikh communities of a Punjab village have built a mosque for the village's Muslim residents.
According to locals, four Muslim families live in the village of Bhullar, but there is no public mosque, unlike Hindu and Sikh communities, which have public places of worship. As a result, Muslim families had to travel to some other site to offer their prayers.
The villagers contributed money and took on the task of constructing a mosque because they wanted their Muslim brothers and sisters to have places of worship as well. The mosque that existed prior to the partition is now in ruins.
There are seven gurdwaras and two temples in the village, but no mosques. There are just four Muslim households in the area, and they are the only ones who remained in India following the split in 1947. Finally, in an empathetic move, the Hindu and Sikh villagers decided to build a mosque for their Muslim neighbors.
As a result, they have gathered donations and monetary contributions towards the mosque's construction. The whole Hindu and Sikh population of the area has generously given funds for the project and assisted in the construction of a spacious mosque.
"All the village families extended help to us making monetary donations ranging from Rs. 100 to 1 lakh. They have made our endeavors successful", said a member of the committee which has built the mosque.
"There was a mosque before the Partition in 1947 but its structure turned to ruins with time. We have four Muslim families in the village that chose to stay back and since then, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh families live in harmony in our village," said the Sarpanch of the village.
The mosque's foundation stone was supposed to be laid last week, but heavy rains ruined the event. The village's Sikh community opened the doors of a gurdwara to accommodate the event and even organised langar.
This remarkable gesture by Hindu and Sikh community members to help their Muslim brethren in worshiping without hardship serves as a wonderful example of secularism, fraternity, religious tolerance, and 'unity in diversity.'
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