Satananda Bhattacharya/Hailakandi

Rajeshwarpur village, a predominantly Hindu village located about 20 km from Hailakandi town in southern Assam, had been reeling under acute water scarcity due to a dysfunctional water supply line.

For six months, the villagers have been staging protests and contacting the authorities asking them to repair the water supply line, but to no avail.

In the meanwhile, the Muslim community living in the nearby village offered them help. The management of the village mosque decided to open the wudukhana (ablution facility) for them.

The gesture of Muslims offering to help Hindus in this crisis is being appreciated in the intellectual circles of the Barak Valley.

Hindu villagers filling vessels with water from mosque Wadukhana

As such the area has been reeling under acute shortage as another old water supply facility in the Rajeshwarpur area under Lala Revenue Circle is also defunct. Last month, most of the area was flooded and the shortage of drinking water increased.

When the issue of potable water shortage in the Hindu-dominated area came to the attention of the officials of the local Nalubak Jame Mosque, the members decided to open the doors of the mosque from all communities in the village.

“We were told that the villagers are suffering from a lack of potable water,” said Bilal Ahmed Barbhuiyan, secretary of the Jame Masjid Management Committee. “That is why we decided to open the doors of the mosque for all to fetch water.

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He said it is unacceptable that in today’s world, people have to face water scarcity. “Human religion is the best religion,” He said.