06-02-2006, 06:37 AM
Friday, June 02, 2006
Hindu womanâs cremation in limbo
* Government and Hindu community unwilling to take responsibility to cremate Radha
By Rana Kashif
LAHORE: The government and the Hindu community have refused to take the responsibility to cremate a Hindu woman who recently died in a senior citizensâ home.
The woman, 70-year-old Radha, had been living in a senior citizensâ home of the Punjab Social Welfare Department for the last three years. She died in Mayo Hospital on May 30.
The Hindu community has refused to take the body for cremation on grounds that Lahore did not have a single shamshaan ghat (cremation site), as opposed to 11 at Partition.
Non-government organisation (NGO) South Asia Partnership (SAP) told Daily Times that it was willing to make arrangements for the cremation provided Radhaâs autopsy report was finalised and placed on record. âI have already spoken to senior officials of the Auqaf and Social Welfare departments but to no avail,â SAP Executive Director Muhammad Tahseen said. He said that officials of the Social Welfare Department had told him that they had spoken to the Edhi Welfare Trust and it had agreed to arrange the cremation. However, Edhi Welfare Centre supervisor Athar Iqbal denied having been contacted by any government official.
The Sikh community at Nankana Sahib also expressed its willingness to cremate Radhaâs body if the government had no objection to it. âIf the government and the Hindu community are not prepared to undertake the womanâs cremation, we will do it if the district administration has no objection,â Gurdawara Parbhandak Committee President Wishand Singh said.
District Coordination Officer Mian Muhammad Ijaz said that the district government had no objection if someone were willing to cremate Radha.
âI have contacted officials of the Social Welfare Department and the Evacuee Property Trust Board, but no one is prepared to take responsibility to cremate the woman,â said Jacqueline Tressler, Punjab Minority Advisory Council General Secretary. âThe government is trying to protect the rights of minorities and fund its departments for it, but government officials are not ready to cooperate.â
Social Welfare Department Secretary Tauqeer Ahmed told Daily Times that he was not in the city and did not know of Radhaâs death. He said that his department could not do anything on the issue, but he would speak to the Community Development executive district officer to resolve the issue.
When Daily Times contacted Chief Ministerâs Adviser on Social Welfare Sabah Sadiq, she expressed ignorance about the issue. The Lahore district nazim was also not available for comment, while the Minoritiesâ Information Secretary Sabha Munawar Chand was abroad.
A member of the Hindu community told Daily Times that cremation sites that existed in Lahore at Partition had either been demolished or converted into houses. <b>He said that the Hindu and Sikh communities in Lahore had been trying for years to obtain the governmentâs approval for the construction of a cremation site. The Evacuee Property Trust Board had granted land for the purpose in 1976, but some Pathans had settled on the land before construction could begin and had claimed it as disputed property, he said. He said that the Board of Revenue had allocated another 45,000 square feet of land for the purpose on Bund Road in 1999, but the area had never been officially handed over.</b> He said that cremation was an expensive ritual, and required at least 800 kilogrammes of wood and at least two canisters of ghee. The only remaining option for them was to have their dead cremated in Nankana or bury them in the city, which most Hindus chose to do, he said.
Hindu womanâs cremation in limbo
* Government and Hindu community unwilling to take responsibility to cremate Radha
By Rana Kashif
LAHORE: The government and the Hindu community have refused to take the responsibility to cremate a Hindu woman who recently died in a senior citizensâ home.
The woman, 70-year-old Radha, had been living in a senior citizensâ home of the Punjab Social Welfare Department for the last three years. She died in Mayo Hospital on May 30.
The Hindu community has refused to take the body for cremation on grounds that Lahore did not have a single shamshaan ghat (cremation site), as opposed to 11 at Partition.
Non-government organisation (NGO) South Asia Partnership (SAP) told Daily Times that it was willing to make arrangements for the cremation provided Radhaâs autopsy report was finalised and placed on record. âI have already spoken to senior officials of the Auqaf and Social Welfare departments but to no avail,â SAP Executive Director Muhammad Tahseen said. He said that officials of the Social Welfare Department had told him that they had spoken to the Edhi Welfare Trust and it had agreed to arrange the cremation. However, Edhi Welfare Centre supervisor Athar Iqbal denied having been contacted by any government official.
The Sikh community at Nankana Sahib also expressed its willingness to cremate Radhaâs body if the government had no objection to it. âIf the government and the Hindu community are not prepared to undertake the womanâs cremation, we will do it if the district administration has no objection,â Gurdawara Parbhandak Committee President Wishand Singh said.
District Coordination Officer Mian Muhammad Ijaz said that the district government had no objection if someone were willing to cremate Radha.
âI have contacted officials of the Social Welfare Department and the Evacuee Property Trust Board, but no one is prepared to take responsibility to cremate the woman,â said Jacqueline Tressler, Punjab Minority Advisory Council General Secretary. âThe government is trying to protect the rights of minorities and fund its departments for it, but government officials are not ready to cooperate.â
Social Welfare Department Secretary Tauqeer Ahmed told Daily Times that he was not in the city and did not know of Radhaâs death. He said that his department could not do anything on the issue, but he would speak to the Community Development executive district officer to resolve the issue.
When Daily Times contacted Chief Ministerâs Adviser on Social Welfare Sabah Sadiq, she expressed ignorance about the issue. The Lahore district nazim was also not available for comment, while the Minoritiesâ Information Secretary Sabha Munawar Chand was abroad.
A member of the Hindu community told Daily Times that cremation sites that existed in Lahore at Partition had either been demolished or converted into houses. <b>He said that the Hindu and Sikh communities in Lahore had been trying for years to obtain the governmentâs approval for the construction of a cremation site. The Evacuee Property Trust Board had granted land for the purpose in 1976, but some Pathans had settled on the land before construction could begin and had claimed it as disputed property, he said. He said that the Board of Revenue had allocated another 45,000 square feet of land for the purpose on Bund Road in 1999, but the area had never been officially handed over.</b> He said that cremation was an expensive ritual, and required at least 800 kilogrammes of wood and at least two canisters of ghee. The only remaining option for them was to have their dead cremated in Nankana or bury them in the city, which most Hindus chose to do, he said.