In Death, at the Least, We Are One. But Not in Vadodara

The head of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Vadodara, Gujarat, Vijay Shah, and some other leaders of the party are reported to have objected to the presence of a Muslim person who was helping in the cremation rites of a party member.

According to the report, the Muslim man in question has been a contractor for the supply of wood and cow dung cakes for Hindu funerals.

The day in question was a Friday, and he was wearing a skull cap.

The mayor of Vadodara and some other BJP people differed with the view of the party president; they did not think it apposite for such a view to being taken during pandemic times.

Apparently, Muslims have helped in someone thousand cremations at the site during COVID-19 mortalities.
The reported episode raises an interesting question.

At the time of the Pandit exodus from the Kashmir Valley in 1990, a few families chose to stay back and never leave the Valley.

Depleted in numbers and wherewithal, the last rites of those among them who died in subsequent years have regularly been organized by Muslim Kashmiris.

These Pandit families have often expressed their deep emotion of oneness with the Muslims and their gratitude for being so cared for, most of all in such times of calamitous helplessness.