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The notice on the gate of a graveyard says bodies from other
localities will be allowed to be buried here. |
Hyderabad: "Mar ke bhi
chain na paya to kidhar jayenge? (If there is no peace in death,
then where will I go?" This Urdu couplet from Ibrahim Zauq aptly
sums up the problem of the dead in Hyderabad.
In this booming metropolis, where thousands struggle for a place
to live in, even death offers no solution. Rapid urbanisation,
burgeoning population, escalating land prices and shrinking
graveyards due to encroachments have virtually left no place to
bury the dead.
Some graveyards have already hung "no space available" boards
while others are refusing to allow the burial of "outsiders" or
those residing in other localities.
The burial in any graveyard costs no less than Rs.10,000. Those
attached to dargahs are charged anywhere between Rs.15,000 and
Rs.50,000 for two yards. Still, in places such as Yousufain dargah
at Nampally in the heart of the city, it comes for a whopping
Rs.100,000.
Non-allocation of land for new graveyards, encroachments on
existing ones, construction of concrete tombs by people and a high
demand for burial grounds attached to dargahs have only compounded
the problem.
The issue has religious, social as well as economic aspects. Some
people consider it sacred to be buried near the tomb of a saint.
It was due to such beliefs that the demand for such spaces
increased and some custodians started taking advantage of the
situation.
The management officials of some graveyards, however, justify the
collection of money.
"We have only rocks left in the graveyard, hence we ask people to
pay for the expenses we incur in clearing the rocks. This amount
works out to anywhere between Rs.5,000 and Rs.6,000 for each
grave. We also accept donations," Mohammed Jahangir, secretary of
the management committee at Jamia Masjid on A Battery Lane, told
IANS.
The committee displays a board saying the graveyard is not for the
burial of those from other localities. But people from several
localities come here with recommendations from MLAs, Wakf board
chairman and others. "They even fight with us," said Jahangir, who
has been heading the committee for 42 years.
The management committee has fatwas from Islamic seminaries which
say after a grave turns old, one can dig it up to bury another
body. However, people don't allow this and even build concrete
structures on graves.
Wakf board chairman Syed Ghulam Afzal Biyabani alias Khusro Pasha,
however, says people are not coming forward to complain against 'mutawallis'
(custodians) charging money. "We will definitely take action in
such cases," he said.
"The mutawallis tell us they have to collect the money to protect
and maintain graveyards. We agree that charging Rs.2,000 to
Rs.4,000 is fine, but it should not be more than this," he told
IANS.
"We are doing our best to address the space crunch by identifying
new lands at a distance from the city," he said.
"This problem is not of the Muslim community alone. Even Hindus
and Christians are finding it difficult to cremate or bury their
dead," said Syed Amin Jafri, legislator of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (MIM).
He pointed out that the number of graveyards or cemeteries has not
increased in proportion to the population over the last four to
five decades. From just 1.25 million in 1971, the population has
gone up to 7.7 million.
"The problem is reaching an alarming level. Unless the government
intervenes and provides land for new burial grounds the issue
can't be solved," said Jafri.
"The government should allot 100 to 150 acres of land about 40 km
away from the city for free burial," said Syed Vicaruddin, chief
editor of Urdu daily Rehnuma-e-Deccan. He blames encroachments on
hundreds of acres of land belonging to the Wakf board for the
present crisis.
(Mohammed
Shafeeq can be contacted at m.shafeeq@ians.in)
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