Why a Muslim village head in Ayodhya is making the news?

Living up to its ‘Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb (tradition)’, a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya, with a Hindu majority population, has elected a Muslim gram pradhan in the recently-held local body elections. Hafiz Azeemuddin Khan, the lone Muslim candidate among eight aspirants for the post, emerged as the winner after bagging 200 of the 600 votes.

“My victory is a shining example of Hindu-Muslim unity not only in my village but entire Ayodhya,” said Azeemuddin, who was elected the village head by residents of Mavai block of Rajanpur village in Rudauli assembly constituency.

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Azeemuddin, a farmer by profession, holds the degree of Hafiz and Aalim from a madrasa. He was a teacher at a madrasa for 10 years before joining his family in farming, reports timesofindia.indiatimes.com.

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Commenting on the much-talked about poll victory, a villager Shekhar Sahu said, “We have not voted on the basis of religion, we have kept in mind what is good for us. We are diehard Hindus but elected a Muslim cleric as our head to show to what extent we follow secularism,” the website added.

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Panchayat elections were held in the state last month, where a total of 3,050 seats went to polls.