Friends and foes agree that region of Thar is a beautiful reflection of the vision of nation’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah as far as interfaith harmony is concerned.

"In course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus, and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, you are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed, that has nothing to do with the business of the State," these were the remarks of Quaid e Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his address on Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947.

These remarks by Quaid-e-Azam have invoked mixed response in Pakistan. Nevertheless, a view of Tharparkar, a district whose name has been attributed to famine, deaths, human blight tells an entirely different story when it comes to interfaith harmony as per Quaid-e-Azam’s vision.

The district with 1.6 million people is home to around 0.7 million Hindu population which like Muslims reside in six Tehsils of Tharparkar including Mithi, Chachro, Diplo, Islamkot, Nangarparkar and Dahili.

Poverty, natural splendour and abundance of coal reserves are some of the hallmark of the area but what adds more colour to the region is the level of mutual respect, harmony and above all, tolerance in the people hailing from two different religions and living together for centuries. Tolerance, unfortunately, is a rare sight when it comes to other parts of the countries which have seen attacks on mosques, imambargahs, shrines and churches, causing loss of thousands of lives.

The sale of beef or the slaughter of cow isn’t officially banned, but as a token of respect to the Hindu brethren, the Muslims avoid it even on their grand festivals like Eid ul Azha.

On the other hand, the Hindu population, particularly those living in urban centres like Mithi and have affluent background, on multiple occasion, slaughter goats and the meat is distributed among all, irrespective of cast, creed or religion. Most of the Hindu population, avoid eating ‘Jhatka meat’ (stun bolt) and prefer slaughtered meat of chicken or goat like Muslims. The animals, owned by Hindus are slaughtered by Muslim butchers who properly say Takbeer and grand feasts in the areas are attended by all and sundry. There is another interesting revelation by a Muslim chef which further adds to the beauty of Hindu Muslim relationship in Thar.

Sher Khan, a Muslim chef working in famous Parkar Hotel situated at Mithi, Tharparkar, talking to The News reveals, "In my 20 years service as a chef here not once did I face any Hindu-Muslim conflict. Not only Muslims, even Hindu costumers refuse to eat meat unless assured the animal was slaughtered by a Muslim butcher after saying proper Takbeer," he says.

Sher Khan, who hails from the village of Edani, a far flung area of Tharparkar, heads a 25 member staff at the hotel, majority of whom are Muslims and the food they cook is purchased, eaten by Hindu population. He makes an interesting revelation that most of the famous hotels in Tharparkar such as Bismillah Hotel and Muslim Taj Hotel are owned by Hindus.

Aneel Kumar, who owns Muslim Taj Hotel in Mithi says that entire food cooking is handled by Muslim staff and there has never been any objection by any Hindu resident. "We all live peacefully and with love. This is literally a lovely area of Pakistan," says Aneel Kumar.

Interaction with some of the Hindu families during my visit revealed that Surah Yaseen, which has been described as the ‘Heart’ of the Holy Quran, is considered equally sacred by them and they hold it in great esteem. Mukesh, a local resident of Mithi says that for the last many decades, Surah Yaseen has a permanent place in our house and it is placed in our cuprboards, shelves for Barkat (blessings).

"My family regularly visits shrine of Shah Abdul Karim Bullarhi wala, situated just ahead of Tando Mohammad Khan," Mukesh further informs. Mukesh is a lawyer as well as a trader dealing in honey business.

"On the occasion of Holi, we throw colours on others, and no body is annoyed, whether he is a Muslim or anyone else," says Mukesh.

Kunwar Amar, another local resident who is also a former Union Council member states, "On the occasion of Eid, we greet Muslims and they greet us on our festivals, we share each other’s joy and grief."

According to local people, there are around 50 temples in Mithi, the district headquarter of Tharpakar and number of Mosques is between 25 and 30. There are around one dozen Imambargahs as well in the town.

The News also contacted the bitter political rivals representing two different parties and two different religions but regarding inter-faith harmony, their views are the same.

Former Chief Minister Sindh and a noted figure of Tharparkar, Arbab Ghulam Rahim while talking to The News from Dubai says that the prime reason behind peace in the area is treating each other with respect. He says there is no ban on slaughter of cow but despite that, whenever there is a feast and the organiser is Muslim, he doesn’t serve the guests beef as a gesture of respect for Hindu population. Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim is an Ahle Hadees which is generally considered a hardline school of thought but the Hindu population hails his liberal attitude even at a time while he was serving as CM Sindh.

Dr. Arbab further says that under PPP rule, incidents of theft and robberies had started in the district, otherwise, this was the most peaceful area of the country. The large Hindu population of the area always stood as Pakistanis, never migrated from the area even in the days of war and always supported the country.

Arbab went on to say that during Ramazan, Hindu people organise aftaris for Muslims and attend their events regularly.

Arbab Anwer, former district Nazim of Tharpakar and nephew of Dr Arbab Rahim while talking to The News says that in the 2005 earthquake, the Hindu population made generous contributions for the relief and rescue of the quake-hit people. He says even the poor Hindu employees submitted their one month salary to the quake hit population.

Mahesh Malani, the elected Hindu MPA of PPP from Mithi and a rival of Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim’s group says whether it is Eid or any other event, Hindu population participates in them with great fervour.

"During Ashura days, the Hindu population sets up milk and food stalls for the devotees and same spirit prevails in Ramazan," says the PPP MPA Malani.

Mahesh Kumar Malani also states that apart from festivals, the real colour in Mithi is seen at a time when Pakistani cricket team wins a match, and specially against India.

"The entire Hindu population supports none other than Pakistan as Pakistan is our country, Pakistan is our identity -- the real Pakistan as envisaged by the Quaid-e-Azam is seen here," says Mahesh Kumar Malani, who also served as MNA in the past and got elected in 2013 general elections from Mithi, the headquarter of Tharparkar.