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/ India News / 2007 / July 2007 / July 31, 2007 Kashmiri Pundits given a warm welcome by Muslims in Kashmir |
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About 300 Kashmiri Hindu Pundits were given a warm welcome in Sugaam Tehsil of Kashmirs Kokernag constituency by Muslim families on Monday on arrival during a Mahayagna ceremony.
Sugaam (Jammu and Kashmir), July 31 : About 300 Kashmiri Hindu Pundits were given a warm welcome in Sugaam Tehsil of Kashmir's Kokernag constituency by Muslim families on Monday on arrival during a Mahayagna ceremony.
Families belonging to Hindu and Muslim communities embraced each other after a gap of 17 years when the Kashmiri Pundits had left Sugaam fearing violence by militants.
The Mahayagna ceremony (a Hindu fire ritual) was marked to celebrate the reopening of a local Shiva Temple in Sugaam, 80 kilometres of Srinagar city. The temple had to be closed due to militancy.
Over one thousand Muslims, including women and children, participated in the celebrations marked to celebrate the reopening of the temple. The residents assured the visiting Kashmiri pundits of special care who were forced who were compelled to leave the Valley due to militancy.
Morifa, a local resident, said: "I cannot explain how ecstatic I am feeling on meeting my friends. I still cannot believe that we have met. I think that such things should be started and continue. We want Hindu brothers to live with us,"
Habibullah Bhat, a local resident, said: "We want them to return as they have their land and property here. We are incomplete without them. They are like a part of our body."Meanwhile, the reopening the Shiva temple could be possible due to the All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee which is running a campaign to reopen such temples and others. So far, three temples have been reopened.
Many Kashmiri Pandits have welcomed this gesture made possible by their Muslim brethren in the Valley, who even participated in religious ceremonies and prayers.
Gopinath Bhat, a Kashmiri Pundit, said: "They have shown a lot of cooperation with us in making all the arrangements. We heartily thank them." By Mohd.Afzal Bhat
ANI
