The news about Muslims donating 33 tonnes of grain to Golden Temple Langar waswidely reported .This initiative of Malerkotla Muslim was highly appreciated by the Sikh Community around the world. The Muslim group reached Golden Temple and did Kar Seva while handing over grains’ trucks to the Golden Temple authorities.
Dr Nasir Akhtar
of the ‘Sikh-Muslim Affinity Foundation’ speaks of the heart warming response
in Punjab to Muslims contributing 35 tonnes of foodgrains for the free kitchen
at the Golden Temple, Amritsar.
How did the Idea of Collecting Grains and Send it to the GoldenTemple come to your mind?
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Golden Temple had issued an appeal for grains. The Golden Temple runs a huge Langar (free kitchen) where food is served to everyone irrespective of their religion. I felt that we should also contribute. While it was possible to collect grains from a few wealthy people, we decided to collect five Kgs of grains from each household in Muslim majority villages.
It took us 35
days and we received a huge response. It has had a positive impact on the
brotherly relations between the two communities.
What was the Reaction of the Sikh Villagers in Malerkotla?
Whenever we reached a village where Sikhs and Muslims lived together, Sikh women would break down, cry and pray for us. They would offer us cold water to drink and insisted on serving us meals in their home. The elderly Sikhs blessed us. Sometimes we would reach a village and find that Sikhs were also collecting food grains from Sikh homes for the langar. Sometimes they would turn up after us and both the groups moved together to collect food grains, they from Sikh households and we from Muslim households.
How were the Grains Delivered?
A few of us went to Amritsar to deliver the grains contributed. Sikhs in Sangrur, who knew about the drive, felicitated us and enlisted the help of a local Gurudwara to assist us. When 10 of us reached the Golden Temple, we were received warmly. Muslims of Punjab and Malerkotla have been offering Kar Seva at the Golden Temple for years. But this was possibly the first time that Muslims went from door to door to collect food grains for the Golden Temple. It generated a lot of goodwill.
Has it Helped or Healed?
The goodwill and harmony between the two communities is growing. Malerkotla is a Muslim majority area and the local MLA Razia Sultana is a minister in the Punjab cabinet. Muslims of Malerkotla are quite well-off and work with Sikhs shoulder to shoulder.
People on both sides understand the value of peaceful co-existence. Since news spreads fast these days, Sikhs ,here, were quick to appreciate when a mosque gave up land in Saharanpur for a Gurudwara. A Langar put up by Sikhs at Shaheen Bagh by Sikhs was similarly appreciated by Muslims.
We are human beings first and our other identities and religious affiliations should be secondary.
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