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Pakistan Hindu priest arrives in India for ashes immersion

Image courtesy: India Times

Mumbai - Shri Ram Nath Maharaj arrived in Mumbai for the 'asthi visarjan' of 160 Pakistani Hindus.

By Web Report

Published: Wed 21 Sep 2016, 4:26 PM

Last updated: Wed 21 Sep 2016, 9:09 PM

The India-Pakistan relations hit a new low after Sunday's attack on the Indian army base that killed 18 personnel in Kashmir. Though the relations between the two countries are not good at the moment, there are a few people who have been visiting their neighbouring country for various reasons. One among them is Shri Ram Nath Maharaj, the head of a temple in Karachi.
According to a report in the Times of India, Maharaj arrived in Mumbai for the 'asthi visarjan' of 160 Pakistani Hindus.
Image courtesy: India Times
From Mumbai he will travel to Haridwar on Saturday for the 'asthi visarjan', the report said.
Shri Ram Nath Maharaj, whose ancestors had migrated to Pakistan from UP even before the Partition, heads the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir, one of the most revered shrines for the Hindus in Pakistan.
Ram Nath Maharaj, whose family name is Mishra, is accompanied by his nephew Kabir, and is staying with relatives in Mulund.

"Pakistani Hindus' last wish is to have their ashes immersed in Ganga. We wanted to bring in more urns but only a few of us were able to secure visas," he said.

He said that ashes immersion in Ganga were so important for Pakistani Hindus that the kin of the deceased were willing to wait for years to get such a chance.

Image courtesy: India Times
"Most of the people whose ashes we will immerse had died three or four years ago," he said, adding that the last time he had visited India was five years ago, when he immersed ashes of 135 people."
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