LONDON, March 27, 2009: As the three-day hearing in the Royal Court of Justice on allowing Hindu-style funeral pyres in Britain concludes on Thursday, the judicial review has raised the hackles of many who believe such practices are harming Hinduism and should not be allowed here.
Newcastle-based Davender Kumar Ghai, 70, has approached the high court to repeal a 1903 Act so that Britain’s Hindus can cremate their dead according to rituals here instead of taking bodies to India for last rites. Ghai, founder of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society, has been campaigning for a change in British laws to allow funeral pyres conforming to Hindu rites. The case has been supported and opposed by several people within the Hindu community as well as from the British public.
According to Jay Lakhani, director of Hindu Council UK (see news below), the demand for such a ritual is damaging the credibility of Hinduism in the UK. Lakhani said: “The idea that the soul requires an open-air cremation in order to be released, demolishes the potency of the soul and thereby undermines the very foundation of Hinduism”.
Letters sent to The Daily Telegraph are spilt in their suppor. Llewelyn Daniel, a reader, wrote: “Anyone who cannot adhere to the laws of Britain should take the first step to exercise their right to go back to where they came from”. Another reader, Morris, wrote that Ghai is a man of faith and sincere in his contributions to British society and is entitled to a fair hearing regarding his rights under the law.