By Arré Bench Mar. 30, 2020
In Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshah, Muslim neighbours cremated a Hindu man and even chanted “Raam Naam Satya Hai” during his funeral procession, as relatives failed to gather amid the coronavirus lockdown.
The global coronavirus pandemic has been full of bad news, as most crisis-scale events tend to be. In India, the situation is no different from the rest of the world – there are accounts of police violence, civic irresponsibility, and painful reminders of how poverty has left so many Indian vulnerable during the nationwide lockdown. In times like these, a piece of positive news is what gives us hope.
In Bulandshahr, a man named Ravishankar died. Because of the #COVID fear, none of his relatives came to lift the bier. His Muslim neighbours came,lifted the bier & also chanted "Ram Naam Satya hai" in the funeral procession. pic.twitter.com/g4TLPsxdpH
— Zainab Sikander (@zainabsikander) March 29, 2020
This video comes from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, and shows the funeral procession of a man named Ravishankar, who died of cancer. The coronavirus lockdown made it difficult for his relatives and family to attend his funeral, but his neighbours were at hand. The Muslim neighbours carried out Ravishankar’s last rites according to Hindu customs, chanting “Raam Naam Satya Hai” while walking in the funeral procession.
Ravi Shankar, resident of Anand Vihar locality in UP's Bulandshahar district died of cancer on Friday. Deceased, hailing from a poor family is survived by wife and four children. Muslim residents in the neighborhood helped the family during funeral procession and cremation. pic.twitter.com/3mgaI1zap3
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) March 29, 2020
It’s a reminder that India’s famed unity in diversity still exists, and also that in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising above religious differences and coming together is the only way to prevail. Hopefully, the spirit of religious harmony continues to prevail even after the coronavirus threat has passed.
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