Source: in.news.yahoo.com
NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 30, 2010: UK-based Davender Ghai, 71, is a man with a mission. For the last four years Ghai was locked in a legal battle with the British government for his right to be cremated in the open, which is prohibited in the United Kingdom under 1902 Cremation Act. But in February this year, he won the battle in the Court of Appeal, Britain’s highest court, which ruled that Hindu cremation rites should be accommodated within British laws.
But there is still more ground for him to cover. “Though I have won the case, the British government is yet to implement the ruling. I have not been given a site for an open air crematorium yet,” says Ghai, who has been living in Newcastle, Britain, for the past 54 years. Ghai started the campaign for open-air funeral pyres for Hindus when his father’s desire to be given a proper Hindu cremation couldn’t be fulfilled.
Ghai, who fears that the now UK government might put environmental hurdles in setting up an open air crematorium, plans to visit some open air crematoriums in Delhi, a city he is visiting to generate awareness and garner support for his cause.