Both Hindus & Muslims in Assam come together to preserve a century old minaret

May 06, 2019

Nagaon (Assam), May 06 (ANI): India is a multi-religious society, where people of almost all the religions live with complete harmony. They not only have mutual tolerance among themselves but also hold equal regards for the beliefs of other communities and this has been proved by its people time and again. One such example was recently witnessed in the Assam’s Nagaon district, when keeping in view the religious sentiments of a community, a two storeyed minaret that was earlier to be demolished due to construction purpose was decided to be shifted to another place. Assam houses a series of monuments, age old historical architectures that reflects its rich historical dimension. Puranigudam Minaret situated along the national highway from Nagaon district to Upper Assam is one among them. Established in 1909, it is the famous minaret of a historical mosque in central Assam that is standing as a symbol of communal harmony for years. But recently, when government decided to go for four-lanning of the highway, the minaret was about to be demolished to make way for highway expansion project. Seeing this, local people cutting across religious lines came forward and approached the district administration to preserve the structure. Considering their religious sentiments the administration took the decision of shifting the minaret without dismantling it. Lifting and shifting of the mosque was only possible with the use of modern technique of hydraulic system brought by Haryana based company in collaboration with Jorhat based company Imperial Décor. The work is presently underway in two phases and is done under complete safety. The minaret will now be moved 70 feet away from the original site. For the locals, the shifting of the minaret has come as a great relief after a long battle as it has almost been four years since they took the initiative to preserve it. When the historical structure will get shifted at its new place, it would for centuries, narrate the strong bond of Hindu and Muslims who came together to preserve it.