Hindus and Muslims in Burondi, a village in Ratnagiri district — located 228 km from Mumbai — have signed a 100-year pact between themselves to maintain communal harmony. The pact, which has been notarised, lays down a code of conduct for members of both the communities to avoid communal strife in the village that has a population of 4,000.
Some of the clauses in the agreement include a code of conduct for processions before they pass through a holy place. “Hindu processions, be it a marriage procession or a religious one, will pass through the masjid with drums playing. However if there is namaaz going on, the procession will stop at a distance and pass only when the namaaz is over,” the agreement states.
The three-page agreement also states that the Govinda procession will pass through the masjid area with full pomp and will also pay obeisance at the mosque.