A Shining Example Of Humanity Muslims Perform Last Rites For An 84-Year-Old Kashmiri Pandit

When Janki Nath breathed his last, he was far away from his kin. An 84-year-old man, who died with no family to bid goodbye to in the last moments of his life, was given a farewell true to his roots. But who performed his final rites?

Muslims. A number of Mohammedans from the Kulgam district in south Kashmir performed Janki Nath's funeral, who had refused to leave the Valley that he called home for the fear of militants who had already snatched his family from their homes.

So when Janki Nath passed away on Sunday, a group of his Muslim neighbours got together to give the Kashmiri pandit a funeral that he deserved. And even though Nath had belonged to a different faith, they offered their prayers as if he was their own.

Nath was the only Kashmiri Pandit living in Malvan among 5,000 Muslims, after his family had fled the Valley in 1990 - the same year when he retired from government service and when militancy reached its apex in the state.

Nath hadn't been keeping well for five years and was looked after by his Muslim brothers. Hence, his loss came as quite a shock for his neighbours.

"We feel we have lost one of our own. He was just like my elder brother and I used to take suggestions from him before taking any step", said Gull Mohammad Alai, a resident of Malvan.


Ghulam Hassan, another resident added, "To help our neighbours irrespective of their religion is our duty which we performed. We have lost a dear friend who stood with us in the best and the worst of the times."