Human Rights
All in SW
Oh! boy - this is going to be fun!! Just be careful that what you say in a letter may bring PC Plod around to feel your collar!!
John Kelly
UK Hindus demand traditional pyres
IANS
Wednesday, January 11, 2006 22:41 IST
LONDON: The Anglo-Asian Friendship Society based in Gosforth, London plans to
petition the Newcastle City Council and the European Court of Human Rights to
ensure that dead bodies of Hindus and Sikhs are cremated on traditional funeral
pyres instead of in electric crematoriums.
Britain has a large minority of Hindus and Sikhs, but arrangements for the
deceased within the communities are different from what is ordained by the
scriptures. There are instances of families taking the bodies to India for
cremation according to proper rituals. Davender Ghai, president of the Society,
told the media:
“Many Hindus and Sikhs in England object to mechanic gas-fuelled cremation but,
without any alternative, reluctantly comply. Now our legal team is preparing a
case under the 1998 Human Rights Act and may plead directly to the European
Court of Human Rights.”
But, British authorities have allowed the use of certain rivers where the ashes
of the dead may be scattered. The Soar, the Thames and the Wye are such rivers
designated as the ‘Ganges’.
|