SRINAGAR: After helping in restoring an old temple in 2019, the Muslim community of Achan, a sleepy hamlet in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, once again displayed the bond they share with the Kashmiri Pandit community by not only sharing the grief of Sanjay Sharma’s family but also making arrangements for his last rites.
Sanjay, a security guard in a J&K Bank ATM, was shot dead by militants while he was on his way to the local market in the village on Sunday. Sanjay’s family had decided not to migrate from Kashmir after the eruption of militancy in the 1990s.
“He was like our brother. The entire village shares the grief of the family and condemns the killing. This killing has brought a bad name to our village. Our village has been an example of communal harmony,” said one of the family’s Muslim neighbours.
The Muslim community made arrangements for Sanjay’s last rites on Monday. They carried his body to the cremation ground and arranged for the wood for the cremation. In March 2019, Muslims of the village had helped the Pandits in the renovation of an 80-year-old Swami Jagannath Asthanpan Bhairvi temple in the village.