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Even in his dreams, Mohammad Sohan, had not imagined that some day he would exchange wedding vows with his lady love Nuresha Khatoon on the premises of a temple.
The two love birds from Bhimnagar panchayat near Bihar-Nepal border in Bihar’s Supaul district, some 250 km from Patna, had eloped to Delhi during the recently-concluded Durga Puja.
When the two returned to their native place, a meeting of the panchayat was convened last week wherein it was decided that both of them should enter into wedlock at the local Lord Shiva temple and set an example of communal harmony.
The meeting was attended by a large number of Hindus who gave their consent to the unanimous decision of the panchayat, paving way for the 25-year-old groom and the bride to enter wedlock.
Amid the presence of a large number of Hindus as well as Muslims, Maulvi Mohammad Jaffar read out the ‘Kalma’ to the couple. “The nikah was solemnised on the verandah of the Shiva Temple, where Mohammad Sohan and Nuresha exchanged wedding vows,” said the panchayat mukhiya Sudhir Kumar Singh, adding that the unusual wedding would send a strong message to those who try to drive a wedge between the two communities.
“Sohan and Nuresha have not rebuffed those who spread hatred in the society in the name of love jihad and other such synonyms, but have set an example of perfect harmony in secular Bihar,” said the maulvi, who was happy to see a nikah being solemnised in a Hindu temple.
A beaming newly-wed Nuresha thanked everyone for the unstinting support and said she would every year visit the Shiva temple on the occasion of her marriage anniversary. “We will celebrate our wedding anniversary by visiting the Shiva temple here,” the Muslim couple told media.