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ScottMalaysia
13 February 2010, 04:55 AM
From the New Zealand Herald:

Hindu guru wins open-air cremation battle

12 February, 2010

4 a.m. | LONDON - It took four years of complex legal wrangling, nearly bankrupted an ailing Hindu guru and has cost the British taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds. But in the end, it turned out that open-air cremations had been legal all along.

That was the surprise verdict from the Court of Appeal yesterday which has ruled that there is nothing in Britain's cremation laws specifically forbidding someone from cremating themselves in the open air - as long as it is conducted in an enclosed building away from the public's gaze and abides by environmental regulations.

The judgment is a remarkable victory for Davender Kumar Ghai, a 71-year-old Hindu holy man from Newcastle who has fought an expensive battle against the Newcastle City Council and the Ministry of Justice who argued that outdoor cremations were illegal.

As he was carried out of the Royal Courts of Justice by his jubilant supporters, Ghai remarked that the judges' verdict had "breathed new life into an old man's dreams".

Opinion is divided within the British Hindu community over whether open-air cremations are a religious necessity or a luxury.

The vast majority of Britain's Hindu population have had no theological problem with mechanical crematoria, but some ship the bodies of their loved ones back to India for a traditional outdoor cremation.

Orthodox Hindus like Ghai believe that cremation inside a mechanical crematorium would lead to "akal mrtyu" - a bad death that would hamper his soul's chances of reincarnation in the next life.


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What does everyone think about this? I personally agree with the court's decision, and hope that New Zealand will follow suit. I for one wish to have a traditional Hindu cremation on a pyre.

Eastern Mind
13 February 2010, 07:10 AM
Vannakkam Scott:

Interesting topic. I'm curious to what some of our Indian companions here think. I'm glad there is a choice. It shows more freedom. In India and where resources are scarce, the electric crematorius is gaining ground due to ecological and preservation or resources argument. Some places have difficulty getting enough wood.

In Britain, even some Hindus thought the fellow went a bit overboard in the court case.

Personally, I could care less just so long as its cremation. I certainly wouldn't take it to court, although there is plenty of wood, and open space in Canada. Esoterically, to me it makes no difference. It would be interesting to know what some of our Hindu religious leaders have said on it as well.

Here are three articles I found.
http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2009/12/19/electric-cremation-of-dead-bodies-hindu
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/04/02/stories/2009040252730900.htm
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/xpress/2006/07/13/


Aum Namasivaya

Ramakrishna
14 February 2010, 02:38 AM
Personally, I could care less just so long as its cremation.

I agree.

Ramakrishna
14 February 2010, 02:39 AM
I read an article about this on Yahoo News. I am glad the court ruled in favor of the Hindu man, and I admire him for taking his case so far.