COMMUNITY GRAVEYARD

With burial land getting scarce by the day in Srinagar, an NGO has taken upon itself the task of burying the unclaimed bodies and those who are not residents of the city, reports Umar Mukhtar

- Umar Mukhtar

Back in 2002, Ali Mohammad, a resident of Handwara, shifted to Srinagar. He settled down at S D Colony Batamaloo. After six years, one fine morning, Mohammad lost his elderly father following a long illness. It was around 7 am when his father breathed his last. Till 4 pm, they could not get a piece of land to bury him.

They had the ancestral graveyard at their native place but they wanted to bury their father in a nearby graveyard but the local committee denied them permission. Mohammad visited every graveyard in the neighbourhood, but he got the same answer everywhere. The reply he got was: “We have a small space for ourselves, we cannot accommodate an outsider here.”

Finally, at 4 pm, Mohammad had to drive his father to Handwara, an 80 km distance for the burial.

A CONCERNED NGO

Taking note of this incident, a local NGO, SRO Batamaloo initiated a process of acquiring land for, what they say, a community graveyard.

“We were already getting frequent requests where people were looking for the land for the burial of their dead. It is also a religious obligation of every Muslim,” said Javaid Ahmad, a member of the NGO.

Ahmad said at that point of time the NGO was just starting out so it was difficult for them to buy land. “We were searching for a piece of land like where no construction can be done.”

Finally, they acquired 8 marlas of land at Momin Abad Batamaloo under the electricity transmission lines. “Though we got it on a lesser rate, we had no finances then. We borrowed money for its purchase. It cost us around Rs 8 lakh then,” Ahmad said.

THE FIRST BURIAL