DHUBRI, Jan 23 - The Adhikary family in the remote Purni village of Dhubri district has set a unique example of communal harmony by donating 1.5 bighas of land for a kabarsthan (Muslim graveyard) for the residents of at least 10 villages.
Purni and its surrounding villages with almost 8000 Muslim families, never had a graveyard. They had to travel at least five kilometres to bury their dead relatives. According to the locals of the area, as most of the villagers in the area are very poor, they cannot afford to take the bodies to such a distance for burial by hiring a vehicle. Therefore, they either bury their kin in the lawns inside the boundaries of their home or in their farmland.
�The problem arises with the people with lesser lands,� said Rehman Ali Sheikh, a retired government official and a resident of the area. �These people had to ask others to provide them space in their land for the burial of their near and dear ones. The condition of the people here has been pathetic.�
He also informed that the situation worsens during the floods as the death toll rises during that time and almost all houses are submerged, specially in char areas. �They have nowhere to go.�
However, with Brijmohan Adhikary donating 1.5 bighas of his ancestral farmland to the villagers to use as their kabarsthan, the villagers of Purni and its adjacent areas are very happy and have heaved a sigh of relief. Purni is a village under Harirhat gram panchayat under Golakganj constituency. Brijmohan inherited 4.5 bighas of farmland in the village. �This is not just a donation, but a gift to this and many other generations to come,� said Sheikh while adding, �Brijmohan and his family members have been so generous that they don�t even want the name of the kabarsthan to be named after any of the relatives of the family.� He said that the villagers initially wanted to keep the name after the Adhikary family, but later they named it as �Purni Pullerpar Kabarsthan�.
Talking to this correspondent, Brijmohan Adhikary said, �It is not for any social service but for the cause of humanity. I have seen the pathetic condition and the trauma which the relatives of the deceased undergo in these villages... just to bury their near and dear ones�. He also added, �Tears roll down your cheeks when you see the condition of these people. This has driven us to take this initiative and make a permanent solution. I believe dead people have no religion.� Meanwhile, Sheikh who is also the advisor of the kabarsthan committee informed that Brijmohan Adhikari has already handed over the authority of the land to them and they are waiting for the local MLA, Aswini Roy Sarkar to give them a date so that he can formally inaugurate the graveyard.