THANJAVUR: A dispute over a burial ground between two communities in a village near Kumbakonam was settled amicably on Wednesday, thanks to the timely and deft intervention by revenue and police department officials.
Peace talks were held by the authorities as a group of Hindus raised objections to burying the body of one Muslim youth, Mohammed Riyaz, aged 18 and son of Sadique Batcha of Alima Nagar, at Bismillah Nagar in Ulur village near Kumbakonam. The boy had died of brain fever on Tuesday and his body was taken to Bismillah Nagar for burial.
Hindus in the locality objected to it saying it was a residential area. However, the youth's body was eventually buried there after officials intervened and resolved the issue today.
Manikaraj, tashildhar, Shanmugham, deputy tasildhar, Rajendran, assistant block development officer, Ganesamurthy, DSP, besides Hindus and Muslims representatives residing in the village took part in the talks.
The Muslims said that they had purchased the land (Bismillah Nagar) in 1977. On March 13, 2017, they had got permission from Ramesh, then BDO, for burying bodies in that area. “We are using this burial ground as per the order from the Government. Now Hindus are objecting. We are ready to use if an alternate place is given by the government for burial of bodies,” Muslims' representatives said.
Representatives of Hindus said that the name of the place was Teresa Nagar when they (Muslims) had purchased it. Later they (Muslims) changed the name to Bismillah Nagar. They purchased the land stating that it was for constructing a marriage hall, but started using it as a burial ground.
“We gave a petition objecting to burials to the then Sub-collector in 2015 but in vain,” representatives of Hindus said.
After the peace talks, Manikaraj, tashildhar, said that Muslims should not bury bodies in the disputed land hereafter.
A flex board announcing this will also be placed in that place. As per the guidelines of the district collector, an alternate place will be given to Muslims for burial of bodies in two months. The settlement was accepted by both sides and they dispersed peacefully.
