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Sikh Federation says community
doesn’t want
open cremations
WSN Network
LONDON: A
Sikh man’s open air cremation, the first in Britain in 72
years, has triggered some reactions from the local community and
even the Sikh Federation of the UK has termed the ritual as
“unnecessary”.
An ethnic Asian
newspaper Eastern Eye reported that the federation has demanded
legal action against the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society (AAFS),
which had conducted the funeral of Rajpal Mehat.
“As far as Sikhs
in the UK
are concerned, cremation in gas furnaces with the necessary Sikh
religious service is something that is suitable. The AAFS is not
representative of the Sikh community,” the report quoted a
spokesperson of the Sikh Federation as saying. The cremated man, a
31-year-old Sikh, was an illegal immigrant and had drowned in a
Southall canal in December 2005.
After attempts
to fly his body to India failed, AAFS president Davender Kumar Ghai
organised the open air ritual at an undisclosed venue, according to
the wishes of the family who flew in from India.
The 1930 British
cremation act prohibits the cremation of human remains anywhere
except in a crematorium.
12 September, 2007
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