When Rajkumar Gaur breathed his last in a Muslim household on the night of August 23rd, 2019 following a prolonged illness, the house inmates didn’t give a second thought and jointly decided to perform his last rites as per Hindu rituals.

On August 24^th, 2019, in a heartwarming gesture and tossing all religious discriminations aside, Saddam Hussain and the fellow residents of Khandikar, a minority-dominated village in Rangia, conducted the 65-year-old’s funeral ceremony.

From calling a priest to taking his body to the cremation ground and from singing naam prasanga to lighting his pyre amidst chanting of Sanskrit slokas, Gaur’s last rites were conducted as per Hindu rituals.

“Gaur along with his family was living with Hussain and when he died, his family decided to perform the last rites. This shows the unity among the people here,” said a local.

He added, “Through this gesture, we want to set an example that there is no discrimination in the land of Shankar-Ajan Fakir. We believe in brotherhood, harmony and peace.”

The villagers mourning the death of Gaur also offered prayers to Allah. The villagers said that Gaur hails from North India and post the death of his father, he settled in Assam.

Photo: Abhijit Talukdar