Interfaith kidney swap: Muslim, Hindu families in India form close bond after exchanging organs

A pair of Indian families waiting for kidney transplants may have found the secret to ending religious strife: interfaith organ sharing. The Hindu and Muslim households are now close friends after swapping their innards.

Nadeem and Nazreen Patel forged an unbreakable bond with Ramswarth Yadav and his wife Satyadevi after a doctor proposed that the Muslim and Hindu families serve as kidney donors for each other.

Nadeem, a father of three children, was on dialysis for four years and was facing death unless a suitable kidney donor was found. Ramswarth was also suffering from kidney disease and hoped to undergo a transplant. A doctor at Mumbai’s Saifee Hospital suggested a swap between the two families, since Ramswarth’s blood group (A) matched that of Mrs Patel, while Nadeem’s (B) was a perfect fit for Mrs Yadav. After a month of consultations, a swap transplant was agreed upon. The surgery was a success, with the two households now treating each other as family.

“In matters of life and death, religion doesn’t matter,” Ramswarth’s son Sanjay told the Times of India. “Relatives extended financial help, but nobody was willing to give a kidney. We can never thank Nazreen enough.”

Religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims are no joke in India. Last week, a detergent brand faced calls for a boycott after running an uplifting ad showing a friendship between a young Hindu girl and a Muslim boy.

In October, an Indian primary school was accused of religious apartheid after it was reported that Muslim and Hindu students were being segregated.

Some cases of religious persecution in India have been considerably more violent, however. In September, a Hindu woman was beaten by police after she was suspected of dating a Muslim man. A year earlier, an Indian Hindu killed a Muslim and posted a video of the murder online in an effort to raise money for a campaign against those who practice Islam.

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