- Britain's Hindus and Sikhs want the right to stage open-air cremations on funeral pyres so their dead can take an unimpeded path to reincarnation

[almaty 19]

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Hindus and Sikhs want the right to stage open-air cremations on funeral pyres so their dead can take an unimpeded path to reincarnation.

"Without these essential last rites, the soul languishes in restless torment," said Davender Ghai of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society, a charity that is seeking to overturn a 75-year-old ban.

They are offended by the use of gas-powered crematorium furnaces and fearful that the ashes could be inadvertently mixed with others.

Arguing that the law unfairly penalizes followers of both religions, the charity has asked permission from local authorities in the northern English city of Newcastle to cremate their dead in the open air.

If the council refuses, they plan to take their case to the High Court in London and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if necessary.

Up to 70 percent of people who die in Britain every year are cremated.

Ghai said that at present many Hindus and Sikhs "take the ashes to the river Ganges because they think the last rites are not proper here because of gas-fuelled crematoriums.

"I am not blaming the funeral directors. They do their best but ashes should not be mixed," he told Reuters.

More than 550,000 Hindus and an estimated 320,000 Sikhs live in Britain where open-air cremations have been banned since 1930 amid environmental concerns over mercury emissions.

"This is the first time we have asked for anything. I am just praying and hoping," Ghai said.

Andrew Bogan, legal adviser to the charity's 2,000 members, said it was sad and poignant that having made their home in Britain, they should have to go continents away to find peace for their dead.

Explaining the sensitivities, he said: "Reincarnation is the fundamental tenet of the Hindu religion and the point of death and the ceremony and disposal to a large degree determines transmigration of the soul and its next embodiment.

"Under no circumstances must there be any intermingling of the ashes. Modern crematoriums have up to 12 services a day so guaranteeing this is just not possible. For Hindus that is catastrophic."

A spokesman for Newcastle City Council said of the proposal: "Until we have had time to examine the legal, environmental and financial implications involved, we are not in a position to comment."

But Bogan said he was he was confident of victory, concluding "We are gathering signatures for a petition but we don't want to bang the door down yet and start jumping on the desk."

Elsewhere, people in Hell petitioned Satan for ice water..

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

"Under no circumstances must there be any intermingling of the ashes. Modern crematoriums have up to 12 services a day so guaranteeing this is just not possible. For Hindus that is catastrophic."

Catastrophic? LOL.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Elsewhere, people in Hell petitioned Satan for ice water..

... I heard that various tribes want to do their sacrificing of chicken, sheep and goats right on the market square as well and cannibals want to come out of hiding soon, too. The Human Rights commission is going to be very busy indeed...

[I'm Gone 60]

Don't forget the marshmallows and hotdogs. LOL

[junglee069 0]

it's their religious freedom to do as such - maybe they can reach a middle ground where whatever concerns (mercury emmissions) can be addressed and limited in some manner.......

[pedroh 21]

easy solutions.. sure.. allow it.. funeral homes have a great business opportunity... they can charge for 'private days'.. clean the furnace after and before, so they can make sure the ashes won't get mixed, of course for a hearty amount of pounds.. i hate when people can't see a business opportunity..

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

easy solutions.. sure.. allow it.. funeral homes have a great business opportunity... they can charge for 'private days'.. clean the furnace after and before, so they can make sure the ashes won't get mixed, of course for a hearty amount of pounds.. i hate when people can't see a business opportunity..

There go all the hard earned dunkin donuts and subway dollars...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Open air cremations create an odor that you wouldn't believe. And the odor doesn't go away for hours... it's pretty gross actually. They don't even do it in India as much as they used to. They are switching to the furnaces there too.

[britbird 4]

No way, it's bad enough with all the bonfires people insist on lighting up. They have enough problems with hospital incinerators, i hate to think what an open air body burning would smell like.

As far as I'm concerned if you want to take the ashes to the ganges then why not put the body in a transport device and fly it back to India, then you can burn away to your hearts content!

[junglee069 0]

Open air cremations create an odor that you wouldn't believe. And the odor doesn't go away for hours... it's pretty gross actually. They don't even do it in India as much as they used to. They are switching to the furnaces there too.

really, do u speak from experience? i've only seen it in indian movies, and when ghandi died - i remember her children walking around her burning body - rajiv ghandi, and some others.

[munchkins 0]

it's their religious freedom to do as such - maybe they can reach a middle ground where whatever concerns (mercury emmissions) can be addressed and limited in some manner.......

Yes it is their relgious belief, but remember they are in a different country to their own and should respect the laws of our land, we do not recognise or accept multiple brides, and many other practices, arranged marriages and the likes.

How much more do people who come to the Uk for a better life, expect us to go in terms of giving everyone what they want???? If they want to give that type of burial why do they not apply to build there own crematoriums where only people of their beliefs can be dealt with. That way there loved ones will not be "contaminated" by the likes of us

Sorry if this offends anyone, i don't normally say much in discussions like this, but after the last few days of the demonstrations I am just a little bit fed up of people who come to this country wanting all their own way with not a though to us. I for one do not want to see funeral pyres in this land, I think that went out with the Vikings!!

[junglee069 0]

it's their religious freedom to do as such - maybe they can reach a middle ground where whatever concerns (mercury emmissions) can be addressed and limited in some manner.......

Yes it is their relgious belief, but remember they are in a different country to their own and should respect the laws of our land, we do not recognise or accept multiple brides, and many other practices, arranged marriages and the likes.

How much more do people who come to the Uk for a better life, expect us to go in terms of giving everyone what they want???? If they want to give that type of burial why do they not apply to build there own crematoriums where only people of their beliefs can be dealt with. That way there loved ones will not be "contaminated" by the likes of us

Sorry if this offends anyone, i don't normally say much in discussions like this, but after the last few days of the demonstrations I am just a little bit fed up of people who come to this country wanting all their own way with not a though to us. I for one do not want to see funeral pyres in this land, I think that went out with the Vikings!!

arrainged marraiges? the uk does not accept arrainged marraiges? haha. you sound as though your afraid of ferners (foriegners) so i'll refrain from responding to such non-sense.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

really, do u speak from experience?

Yes, from experience...

arrainged marraiges? the uk does not accept arrainged marraiges? haha. you sound as though your afraid of ferners (foriegners) so i'll refrain from responding to such non-sense.

I believe in the popular media in the UK, "arranged marriages" refer to marriages arranged without the consent of both parties getting married. Specifically, the type of marriage where a young Pakistani, Sikh or Punjabi Jatt girl is flown to India or Pakistan by her parents and then "married" to a man without her express consent. It happens a lot in the UK, for reasons I could not begin to understand.

Personally, I think the desi community in the UK is freaking weird.

If they want to give that type of burial why do they not apply to build there own crematoriums where only people of their beliefs can be dealt with.

Not that easy. The argument against open air burials is an environmental one, which is why this is not possible.

[junglee069 0]

really, do u speak from experience?

Yes, from experience...

arrainged marraiges? the uk does not accept arrainged marraiges? haha. you sound as though your afraid of ferners (foriegners) so i'll refrain from responding to such non-sense.

I believe in the popular media in the UK, "arranged marriages" refer to marriages arranged without the consent of both parties getting married. Specifically, the type of marriage where a young Pakistani, Sikh or Punjabi Jatt girl is flown to India or Pakistan by her parents and then "married" to a man without her express consent. It happens a lot in the UK, for reasons I could not begin to understand.

Personally, I think the desi community in the UK is freaking weird.

i competely agree - the desi community in the UK is absolutely whacked. muslims, hindus, pakistani, indian, bengali - the entire lot - live in a different dimension. sadly enough, i see a lot of that developing in our future here in the states.

although their primitive method of arranged marriages is absurd - i highly doubt that it's against any sort of law.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

although their primitive method of arranged marriages is absurd - i highly doubt that it's against any sort of law.

Actually, forced marriages are against the law, as they should be.

When you take a young desi girl, put her smack dab in the middle of a huge joint desi family, with no money of her own and no means of transportation, in a neighborhood where everyone knows she is the honi wali dulhan..... she can't do much. She sure can't run away. And most desi chicks just ain't confrontational enough to make a scene. So they get married. The UK, as far as I know, does give these girls legal recourse once they are back home.