Muslims stand in for family of dead Hindu, perform last rites

Jaipur, April 14 (IANS) A classic example of communal harmony came to fore on Monday in Jaipur when a few Muslim men performed the last rites of a Hindu man, carrying his bier to the crematorium while chanting 'Ram Naam Satya Hai' as the deceased's family could not reach the state capital due to lockdown.The deceased was Rajendra Gujarati (20) who was suffering from throat cancer. He had come to Jaipur for treatment three months back and was residing with his aunt in New Sanjay Nagar Colony, where he died on Sunday evening.These Muslim men, seeing that no one from his family would be able to reach Jaipur, collected money for his funeral and carried his bier for a kilometre to the cremation ground.Irfan Kureshi, a local leading the procession, said they served humanity with this endeavour."What we did was rendering our neighbourly duty....," he said.
--IANS arc/vd