It’s both heart wrenching as well as an example of the age-old bond of Hindu-Muslim unity in Assam. A group of Muslim youths coming to the aid of a helpless mother, ostracized by villagers, and help her perform the funeral of her son.
Monomati Borah of Borkathani Moliagaon in Golaghat district of Assam lost her 35-year-old son Pabitra (Papu) who died yesterday (Aug 5). If the pain of losing her young son was not enough, she faced the most tragic situation in her life as none of the fellow villagers came out to help her perform her son’s funeral. Faced with such a situation, she found help from a group of Muslim youths who, after learning about her ordeal, came out to help the family.
“My son died yesterday. But villagers who had ostracized us did not come out to help us perform the funeral rites of my son. When our fellow villagers did not come to our help, a group of youths from nearby villages — most of them professing Muslim faith — came forward. They did everything and helped me perform my son’s funeral,” Monomati Borah told News Live.
“We were literally helpless. I informed many villagers and Pabitra’s friends. But no one came forward to help us. I had gone to make purchases for his funeral when a group of youths, all of them professing Islam, heard about our condition and came to our help,” Monomati’s sister said.
“We came to know about the family’s ordeal and decided to help them. First we were about a dozen-odd youths. But as the news spread, we were joined by more people, most of them fellow AAMSU colleagues. We did everything according to Hindu rituals, as per the direction of the unfortunate mother. Finally, after arranging everything, the funeral was performed around midnight,” Raja Ali, an AAMSU activist who took the lead in arranging other youths for the funeral, told News Live.
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“We are grateful to them. Without their help and support, we couldn’t have given Papu a decent funeral,” Monomati Borah and her sister added.
Villagers had reportedly severed ties with the Borah family over issues relating to selling of land and property they owned.
