Harmony Over Hate: This Muslim Man from Ahmedabad is Restoring a 500-Year-Old Temple
In a time when people are getting killed for loving someone from another religious community, this man's actions have served to raise to bar for interfaith harmony.
In many parts of India, there are despicable attempts at raising communal tensions, especially between the Hindu and Muslim community. Episodes are engineered to inflame communal passions, and break the spirit of coexistence and interfaith harmony, merely for short-term political gains.
People are getting murdered for loving someone from another religious community. Open any newspaper, scroll through social media or flip through TV channels, and one is confronted with the sombre feeling that a bloody communal riot could break out anytime.
However, here’s some news from the communally-sensitive city of Ahmedabad, which will warm the heart of any decent and peace-loving person.
In a show of inter-faith harmony, 43-year-old Moin Memon, a Muslim builder in Ahmedabad, has begun to renovate a dilapidated 500-year-old Hanuman temple that he passes by on his way to work, every day.
According to Mirror Now, Memon has spent the past two weeks at the renovation site for the Bhid Banjan Hanuman temple situated in Hanuman Gali of Mirzapur area, Ahmedabad. Workers at the site are using imported saffron Italian tiles to fix the façade of the temple.
In a remarkable show of generosity, Memon has decided that he would absorb the entire cost of this renovation work and thus ensure that the Hanuman temple retraces its former glory. When asked about the total cost of this renovation, he refused to divulge any figures. The only thing he told reporters is that Rajesh Bhatt, the temple priest, had given his blessings for this endeavour.
Read also: 10 Beautiful Stories of Communal Harmony That Restored Our Faith in Humanity
Bhatt, who has been serving in this temple for the past three decades, told reporters that Memon had placed special orders for the saffron tiles from Italy. For Memon, meanwhile, this is something he did out of a sheer sense of goodwill.
“I have grown up seeing the temple in its vibrant glory. I offer namaz five times a day, but as I passed by the temple, its dilapidated condition pained me. I contacted the priest, Rajesh Bhatt, and offered to renovate it. He happily agreed,” said Memon.
Read also: This Muslim Community Wants to Cancel Muharram Procession to Save a Hindu
“The restoration work will be completed in a week’s time. It is a shining example of communal goodwill and brotherhood for the entire country,” said the priest.
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