Ehsan Fazili/ Srinagar

In a goodwill gesture towards Muslims and to maintain harmony, a Sikh has provided his land for a pathway to the local graveyard in Saimoh village of Tral in the Pulwama district of South Kashmir.

Pushvinder Singh, a retired Government school teacher, social activist, and former trade union leader, contested the recent Assembly elections from the Tral constituency. He sought the votes of Muslims and offered to “serve the people of all communities.”

“The lack of a proper entrance to the local graveyard at Sheikh Mohalla in the village was causing problems; the need to have one was being discussed for quite some time," Pushvinder Singh told Awaz-The Voice from his home.

He said that there had been at least “two occasions when the funeral processions had to pass through the front yard of his old house which is situated next to the cemetery.

Pushvinder'smgesture is winning his praises and is being offered as a sample of communal harmony in Kashmir:

At a time when communal tensions are rising around the world, a heartwarming act of unity has emerged from Tral. A brother from our Sikh community, Pushvinder Ji, has generously donated land for a graveyard—a gesture that speaks volumes about the harmony between the Sikh and… pic.twitter.com/K9pHsjrw9u

— Rafiq Ahmad Naik (@Rafiqahmadnaik) May 4, 2025

Pushvinder Singh’s family has been living in Saimoh village for ages. “All the pieces of land available around the graveyard had been fenced by the respective owners in the village, there was no path left to the graveyard”, the Sikh leader said. He felt there should be a permanent solution to the problem, even as the District administration and local authorities could not find one.

“I decided to provide my land, measuring 6 ft by 90 (in front of his old house) to make a path to the graveyard”, he said. In the given situation it seemed to be the only solution, acceptable to all – villagers and the administration. The local administration later developed the path by paving tiles on it.

Pushvinder said his gesture of exchanging his land for a pathway to the graveyard was in conformity with the sayings of the renowned Kashmiri poet Mehjoor known for his advocacy of Hindu-Muslim harmony.

Mehjoor's poetry spoke of Hindus and Muslims as Doud (milk) and Shakkar (sugar) whose unity sweetens the drink.

Pushvinder Singh also referred to Guru Govind Singh’s saying translated into English as “Behold all human races are one”. He said that his gesture was part of the communal brotherhood upholding the slogan of “Hindu-Muslim-Sikh Ittehad” (unity).

Pushvinder Singh was one of the nine candidates of the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee, who contested the last Assembly elections in September 2024, first after the abrogation of Article 370 and division of the erstwhile state into two union territories - J&K and Ladakh.

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The APSCC candidates contested as independents to the minority Sikh community in J&K over the years. These candidates in different parts of the valley appealed to the majority Muslim community to vote for them. In turn, Pushvinder and others promised “to serve the people of all communities”.

The Tral constituency where Pushvinder Singh contested, comprised 80,000 voters including 13,000 Sikhs.