He had cremated in open air 

LONDON: Devender Ghai had carried out a Sikh man's open air cremation, the first in Britain in 72 years, some time back, though the Sikh Federation of the UK had termed the ritual as "unnecessary".

In fact, the federation had 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 Sikh Federation had said. 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 prohibited the cremation of human remains anywhere except in a crematorium. The 2,000-member AAFS fought for a change in this law to allow open air cremations, which they claim will cost 500 pounds compared with 3,000 pounds in gas crematoriums.
 

THE WSN VIEW 

The World Sikh News holds no brief for Davender Kumar Ghai as far as his fight for open air cremation in Britain is concerned. We hold that all people have the right to profess and advocate their religious beliefs, just as we hold that inculcating scientific temperament and practising religious beliefs should not be in conflict.

But we do want to underline that a much bigger fight remains to be fought as far as cremation practices in India are concerned. It is an open secret that cremations in India happen along caste lines, and most villages have separate cremation grounds for lower and higher castes.

Most unfortunately, even in Punjab, where the Sikh Gurus ensured that the high crime of untouchability is not allowed to raise its ugly head, the villages have multiple cremation grounds. While some in the Diaspora are spending money and energy on winning the right to have an open air cremation, it is time we win for the marginalised the right to respect in death, the right to equality after they breathe their last.

It is unfortunate that not once has the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) or the Akal Takht have issued a clear cut warning to the Sikh community that it should work to immediately end the dual cremation grounds system in the villages. Many Jat Sikhs are guilty of following the heirarchical caste based system, and a large number of Sikhs pay special attention to caste boundaries when looking for a match for their offspring.

Recently, a Dalit woman Gurdial Kaur, 75, in Bholuwala village of Ferozepur suffered ignominiy after she died when the dominant Jat Sikhs of the village did not let Dalit families cremate her body  at the common cremation ground and threw out the pyre wood. Shamefully, the district administration sent the local executive magistrate and SHO to the spot to diffuse the tension and all they could manage was to persuade the Dalits to cremate the body at a vacant land in the village.

Still more shamefully, some Jat families had filed a case some time back to prevent Dalits from using the common cremation ground of the village. It speaks volumes about judicial sensitivity that instead of sending clear signals that caste discrimination will not be tolerated, the Dalits were given a separate piece of one kanal land for use as cremation ground. The fact that many villages have two separate gurdwaras for different caste groups only further underlines the problem.

Clinging on to the discriminatory divisions like Jat, Ramgharia, Khatri or Dalit Sikh is contrary to Guru's teaching and reflects ignorance on part of some Sikhs. There is clearly a pressing need for strong educational campaign among Sikhs to rid the community of any lingering effects of the caste system.