TIA WEB DESK
At the time when some politicians are bent upon creating brouhaha over Azan, Nemaz and loudspeaker in different parts of India, some noble souls are also creeping up in the country to frustrate the nefarious designs of hatemongers.
The latest encouraging news has come from Devbhomi, the state of Uttrakhand where two Hindu sisters have donated land worth crore of rupees for Eidgah, a Muslim prayer ground to fulfil their father’s last wish.
Anita Rastogi, 62 and Saroj Rastogi, 57 donated 2.1 acres of ancestral land worth rupees 1.2 crore to be used as an Eidgah — an outside area designated for Nemaz, prayer — in Kashipur, a small town in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttrakhand state ahead of Tuesday’s Eid festival.
According to Times of India, their father, farmer Lala Brajnandan Rastogi, died in 2003 aged 80. He wanted to donate the piece of land to the Muslim community but never told his daughters directly, who later inherited the land.
Rastogi had cordial relations with the Muslim community in the area and throughout his life worked for communal harmony.
The sisters and their brother Rakesh Rastogi on Sunday completed all the formalities and transferred the land. On Tuesday, hundreds of Muslims offered Eid prayers there.
“My father was a strong believer in communal harmony. He wished to donate the land to the Eidgah so that it could accommodate more people for namaz on festivals such as Eid. My sisters honoured his wish,” Rakesh Rastogi told a local newspaper.
“Mr Rastogi and my father were good friends for 50 years. Even after their death, we have maintained family relations. This is a remarkable gesture and we thank them for their belief in brotherhood,” Haseen Khan, head of the Kashipur area’s Eidgah committee, told The National.
In March, a Muslim man donated land worth 25 million rupees for the construction of a Hindu temple — touted as the world’s tallest religious monument in Bihar.