AGRA – Muslims in northern Indian state of Uttar Pardesh are compelled to bury their deceased loved ones in their homes as the government has been ignoring for years, their demand for a graveyard in some blocks of Agra.
According to a report published in Times of India, Muslims of Chah Pokhar village are very poor and landless and the government has ignored their just demand for a graveyard so they have no option but to bury their loved ones in their small houses.
As a result, the dead here are a constant part of day-to-day life and their houses have essentially turned into a graveyard. Women cook next to where their children were buried while the elderly rested on cots in a backyard full of graves.
Most of the Muslim families here are poor and landless and men scout for work as contract labourers.
The apathy of the administration can be gauged from the fact that a plot allotted for a graveyard some years ago falls right in the middle of a pond, the TOI said in its report.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/islamabad-to-have-first-hindu-temple-crematorium-soon/
Protests have erupted in the past over the issue. In 2017, after the death of resident Mangal Khan, his family refused to bury his body until land for a graveyard was provided in the village. After assurances by the authorities, they buried Khan near the pond. But the promises came to nothing.
On the other hand, there is a cremation ground for the Hindus in the periphery of the village, but the Muslims are living with their dead.
