HUMANITY
DURING FLOODS
“We’re all human, aren’t we? Every human life is worth the same, and worth saving.”
J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
A temple in Thrissur, Kerala offers its hall for Muslims to pray; a mosque in Malappuram (a city in Kerala) shelters Hindu families. Isn’t this something to be praised? I found this article on August 22, 2018, in The Hindu. Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of this.
In a true example of communal harmony, a temple hall at Eravathur near Mala, in the southern part of Thrissur district, turned into an Eid prayer hall on Wednesday, August 22, as the nearby mosque in Kochukadavu remained submerged in flood-waters. The temple hall was serving as the relief camp for the people of Kochukadavu and nearby Kuzhur, the two worst-hit areas from the floods in the district.
As the Muslims were searching for a place to conduct the Eid prayers on Wednesday, the SNDP Yogam (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam), which runs the Purappullikkavu Ratneswari temple, happily offered the hall for them. The temple trust also arranged all facilities for the Muslims, including water for the devotees to clean themselves before prayers. Around 200 Muslim devotees participated in the prayers.
Mosque Shelters Hindu Families
In Malappuram district, a mosque has provided shelter and food to several Hindu families displaced by the massive floods, whereas groups of Muslim men have assisted in cleaning two Hindu shrines affected by the deluge.
The Juma Masjid, located at Akampadam in Chaliyar village in northern Malappuram, was sheltering 17 displaced Hindu families, including women, children, and older adults, who were given space to sleep inside the mosque.
When the families returned to their homes, the mosque provided them with rice, pulses, and other essential materials along with food prepared in canteens.
A Vishnu temple at Venniyode in Wayanad (a district in Kerala state) and a shrine dedicated to Lord Ayyappa at Mannarkkad in Malappuram, inundated by the floods, were cleaned by a group of Muslim men. Many shared photos of the Muslim men cleaning the temples on social media.