One Man's Seva For Another Man's Death.

[ghulam muhammed]

One man’s seva for another man’s death

HASAN ABDAL: Thousands of Indian pilgrims barely registered the man in the orange bandanna and Ray-Ban sunglasses taking their shoes and storing them in wooden cubbyholes before they entered the Sikh shrine in Hasan Abdal.

The unassuming 62-year-old tending to the shoes is a top government lawyer and devout Muslim. At the shrine, he is on an unusual solo quest—taking on menial jobs to atone for the beheading of a Sikh by militants.

In helping Sikhs, Khan is reaching out to an extremely small minority.

“I have a desire to serve the Sikh community because my community has done them serious harm, and that hurts me,” said Khan, taking a break from his work at the Gurdwara Panja Sahib.

Khan, one of two dozen deputy attorney generals in Pakistan, began his mission in 2010 after militants kidnapped three Sikhs returning from Afghanistan to their homes in Pakistan. The militants demanded some$240 thousand dollars—an amount the families could not afford. Two of the captives were freed in a commando raid, but 30-year-old Jaspal Singh had already been beheaded.

“That news pierced my heart,” said Khan. “How could Muslims do such harm to such a peaceful community?”

Handling the shoes of devotees is considered a particularly worthy form of seva because it shows humility and a belief that all people, rich and poor, are equal in the eyes of God.

“When I was permitted to do seva, that day felt like the happiest day of my life,” said Khan.

“My message is love and peace,” said Khan, who also visits Hindu temples and Christian churches to reinforce the belief that religious minorities should be protected. “These minorities have been living here for centuries.”

“The message is a soft image of my religion Islam, a soft image of my country Pakistan,” said Khan. “We are not terrorists.”

http://dawn.com/2012/04/13/one-mans-sev ... -ha/print/