100-year old mosque hosts Hindu wedding amid anti-Muslim citizenship law

Mosque committee also gifts Rs200,000 to groom and jewellery worth thousands to bride

In a rare display of communal harmony when India is burning with raging protests against the new controversial citizenship law, an ancient mosque hosted a Hindu wedding in Kerala – the southern state of the country.

The Jamaat committee of the mosque stepped forward to sponsor the wedding ceremony after bride’s mother — bogged down with financial crises — couldn’t generate enough to fund the wedding, Gulf News reported on Sunday.

Kerala: A Hindu couple tied knot at Cheruvally Muslim Jamaat mosque in Alappuzha's Kayamkulam, today. After the girl's mother was unable to raise money for the wedding, the mosque committee decided to help her and the marriage was performed as per Hindu rituals. pic.twitter.com/Fnzb7eBQUf

— ANI (@ANI) January 19, 2020

The bride, Anju Ashok Kumar and the groom named Sarath Sasi solemnised their wedding as per Hindu rituals where they exchanged garlands and performed rites in the presence of a priest at the mosque premises, which was decked up for the rare occasion signifying inter-faith harmony.

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According to a local media report, Secretary of Cheravally Muslim Jamaat Committee Nujumudeen Alummoottil said that Anju [the bride] is the first woman who entered the over 100-year-old-mosque.

"The Jamaat Committee has also given Anju 10 sovereign gold and Rs200,000 as their wedding gift apart from home equipment like TV and fridge. All the wedding expenses were met by the committee, Alummoottil added.

Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted about this coming together of communities, calling it "an example of unity from Kerala".

An example of unity from Kerala.

The Cheravally Muslim Jamat Mosque hosted a Hindu wedding of Asha & Sharath. The Mosque came to their help after Asha's mother sought help from them.

Congratulations to the newlyweds, families, Mosque authorities & the people of Cheravally. pic.twitter.com/nTX7QuBl2a

— Pinarayi Vijayan (@pinarayivijayan) January 19, 2020

The story originally appeared on Gulf News