NRI wins right to Hindu-style cremation in UK

Prasun Sonwalkar
London, Feb 10 (PTI) An Indian-origin social and
spiritual leader in the UK on Wednesday won the right to be
cremated in an open air funeral pyre according to Hindu
rituals, ending a prolonged legal battle.

In a landmark judgement, Britain's Court of Appeal
granted Davender Ghai, 71, the right to be cremated after his
death in an open-air funeral pyre.
Delighted at the ruling, Ghai said the verdict had
"breathed new life into an old man's dreams. I always
maintained that I wanted to clarify the law, not disobey or
disrespect it."
Since open air cremations anywhere outside a
crematorium have been prohibited in Britain under the 1902
Cremation Act, many Indian-origin families in Britain take
bodies of their deceased relatives to India for cremation
according to Hindu rites.
Ghai has been campaigning for the right to be
cremated according to his Hindu beliefs for several years and
sought legal redress.
His bid for Britain to allow open-air funeral pyres
was opposed by the Law Secretary on the ground that people
might be "upset and offended" by pyres and "find it abhorrent
that human remains were being burned in this way".
In a statement to the court, Ghai had said: "I will
not deny my claim is provocative, least of all in a nation as
notoriously squeamish towards death as our own. (MORE) PTI PS
SDE


The information contained in this electronic message and any attachments to this
message are intended for the exclusive
use of the addressee(s) and may contain proprietary, confidential or privileged
information. If you are not the intended
recipient, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please
notify the sender immediately and destroy
all copies of this message and any attachments contained in it.