“Kashmiri Sikh in Tral Donates Land for Muslim Graveyard, Setting Example of Communal Harmony”: SRINAGAR: In a heartfelt act of communal harmony, Pushvinder Singh, a retired Sikh schoolteacher and social activist from Saimoh village in South Kashmir’s Tral, has donated a portion of his land to pave a path to the local Muslim graveyard, a gesture that is drawing praise across the Valley.
For years, residents of Sheikh Mohalla in Saimoh had struggled with access to their community graveyard. On more than one occasion, funeral processions had to pass through Pushvinder Singh’s old house yard, situated adjacent to the cemetery. “The lack of a proper entrance to the local graveyard was causing problems, and this need had been under discussion for a long time,” Singh told local reporters.
After attempts by the administration to find a solution failed, Singh decided to take the initiative himself. “I provided a strip of land measuring 6 feet by 90 feet in front of my house. It was the only viable solution acceptable to everyone, both villagers and officials,” he said. The district administration later developed the route, paving it with tiles.The gesture, simple yet deeply symbolic, has become a beacon of communal harmony in the region. Singh, who contested the 2024 Assembly elections from Tral as one of the nine independent candidates backed by the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC), had promised to serve people of all communities.
“All the land around the graveyard was fenced. There was no clear way left for the funeral processions to pass. This was a matter that affected everyone emotionally and spiritually,” Singh said. His act, he added, is in keeping with the Sikh spirit of service and the broader idea of communal unity: “Hindu-Muslim-Sikh Ittehad is not a slogan, it is a way of life.”kashmir life.