جنوبی وزیرستان کی سرحد کے قریب واقع شہر ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان جو شدت پسندی سے بری طرح متاثر ہوا ہے اور جہاں فرقہ وارانہ تشدد کے بے شمار واقعات بھی پیش آئے ہیں، وہاں اسی شہر میں مذہبی ہم آہنگی کی ایک انوکھی مثال بھی پائی جاتی ہے۔ شہر کے ایک قبرستان میں مسلمانوں کے ہمراہ عیسائیوں اور ہندوؤں کی تدفین بھی کی جاتی ہے ۔

http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/multimedia/2010/06/100624_pak_common_graveyard.shtml

According to a report by BBC, Muslims, Hindus and Christian are buried together in one grave yard in D.I.Khan, Pakistan. This is indeed a symbol of inter-faith harmony in the Saraiki Waseb as the people from three religions are sharing the graveyard and no one has any objection against it. The graveyard has a history of centuries, and the grave of Sayyid Munawwar, who was the founder of the graveyard, is also in the same graveyard. Verses of the Qur’an are written on graves of Muslims while cross can be found on graves of Christians, and Hindus color their graves with yellow and write on them “OM”.

While in a way, this graveyard does represent inter-faith harmony which can rarely be seen in Pakistan, however, we agree with a Hindu interviewee in the BBC report that according to Hinduism a dead body in not to be buried but should be burnt. According to the report, Hindu Pandit Aarsi Sharma said that there used to be a Shamshan Ghat (The Place where Hindus burn their dead) in D.I Khan but now they do not have any place to burn their dead bodies and the Government does not allow them to burn their dead bodies that’s why they are bound to bury their dead in the graveyard.

The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa must make adequate measures to help the Hindu community in fulfilling their religious obligations.