Source: indianexpress | Image Courtesy: indianexpress

In a remarkable act of communal harmony and to calm tempers, a temple in Kerala decided to cancel its daily rituals on hold for 2 days to mourn the death of a Muslim youth. M V Shabeer,23 year old, was an active member of the local Shiva temple and an executive member of the festival committee in the temple. The temple has also decided to do away with the annadanam and procession for the ten-day festival, that is set top begin on February 9. The temple is at at Puthennada near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district. In a video that went viral on internet, he was beaten to death by four youth following a dispute over an elephant running amok during the festival last year.

Shabeer had discontinued his education to support them, the report said and added that the mosque that Shabeer was linked to never had any issues with him being a member of the temple committee. It pretty much sums up how well both the communities had co-existed peacefully in harmony with each other.

Despite the tragedy of Shabeer’s death, the wonderful gesture by the Temple authorities goes a long way in re-establishing bonds of friendship and mutual respect among communities.  The Logical Indian condemns the killing of Shabeer and we hope sooner than later, the guilty will be brought to book. We also laud the wisdom shown by both communities in handling the whole issue in a calm way.