The Hindu : End of a dispute

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 22, 2003

National

National

End of a dispute

By Marcus Dam

KOLKATA NOV. 21. In a gesture that spells both inter-communal fraternity and respect for the dead, seniors from the Muslim community of a village in West Bengal's Malda district gave away last week a patch of land used by them as a burial ground, to their Hindu neighbours to be used as a cremation ground.

There was simmering tension between village residents belonging to the two communities over the rights to the land but old ties between the living brought forth peace.

The Superintendent of Police, Malda, Pankaj Datta, said that representatives of the Muslim community in Sitalpur village of Chanchal block decided on the step at a meeting on November 15.

Tensions were growing for days, punctuated by altercations, between the members of the two communities over complaints of encroachment into each other's area during funerals. Police pickets had been posted.

The decisive meeting of village seniors was conducted in the presence of civil and police officials.

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