Hindu family donates land for Muslim graveyard in India
Move ends years of hardship for Muslim families who were forced to bury their dead several kilometers away
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A Hindu family in eastern India’s Bihar state has donated agricultural land to establish a Muslim graveyard, ending years of hardship for local Muslim residents who had been forced to bury their dead several kilometers away.
The donation took place in Devi Dehri, a village in Buxar district of Bihar, an eastern Indian state bordering Uttar Pradesh. The family transferred ownership of about a quarter of a hectare of agricultural land to be used exclusively as a burial ground for the village’s Muslim community.
The land was donated in memory of Shivam Kumar, a young man from the village who died last month in a road accident in Dehradun, the capital of Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state in northern India. Family members said the decision reflected his character and a desire to turn personal tragedy into lasting relief for others.
According to residents, Devi Dehri village, which falls under Rampur local council in the Chausa administrative block, is home to around 50 Muslim families. For years, they lacked an officially recognized burial site.
An older graveyard had ceased to exist after a school was constructed on the land due to the absence of legal documentation, leaving families with no option but to transport bodies nearly five kilometers for burial.
The issue resurfaced during funeral rituals following Kumar’s death, when family members discussed how the absence of a local graveyard had caused repeated distress to Muslim neighbors.
Relatives said the idea of donating land emerged as a way to honor the deceased while addressing a longstanding community problem.
After Kumar’s body was returned to Bihar and funeral rites were completed, the family invited Muslim residents to a memorial gathering. Discussions led to the formation of a joint committee comprising Hindu and Muslim villagers to oversee the management and development of the burial site.
The family formally transferred the cultivable land, stating that all future income from crops grown there would be used to develop the graveyard. They said no member of the family would retain ownership or control over the land.
Local residents said the donation has brought immediate relief, particularly for poorer families who previously struggled with the cost and logistics of transporting bodies to distant burial grounds. Community members described the move as restoring dignity at a sensitive moment of life and death.
While communal tensions have risen in parts of India in recent years, villagers said the decision had reinforced everyday coexistence at the local level, resolving a practical problem that had persisted for decades.
Have Your Say!
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story? Please share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@soundvision.com.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a Muslim Network TV’s representative. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
Tweet: @MuslimNetworkTV
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
