Mattan (Islamabad) Aug 15: When shells burst in Sumbran village on Saturday, Makhan Lal, a Kashmiri Pandit rushed alongwith his family members through fields and deserted villages for safety. But they could not find a safer place as shells rained nearly eight kilometres from his village. And then the local Muslims came to rescue of the Lals and many more Pandit families. %u201CI and other Pandits owe our life to Muslims,%u201D Lal told Greater Kashmir. %u201CSeeing my family in distress Muslims transported us to Mattan without caring for their families. We can%u2019t forget their hospitality.%u201D Lal who is putting up at a camp here alongwith 103 Kashmir Pandits said for a few days they took shelter in a temple, but it could not cater to huge rush and they had to leave it. When the Muslims of Mattan saw the Pandits on roads, with the help of some civil officers they converted empty government buildings into camps. Now Muslims, Pandit and Sikh families which migrated from Khundru and other villages after the Saturday blaze, live together in them. At its entrance, the inmates have put a banner which reads %u201CHindu, Muslim, Sikh itihaad Zindabad (long live Hindu, Muslim, Sikh unity).%u201D Inside the camps, their children play together while womenfolk clean vegetables. Haji Ghulam Nabi Bhat who heads the Masjid Committee here said the locals cleaned the buildings to provide shelter to the Pandits. %u201CThey (Pandits) are like our own brethren; we have
