Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday will be hearing a case pertaining to crematory ground for Hindus and Sikhs in the city.

Earlier a petition was filed, stating that over 60,000 Sikhs reside in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) yet there were no crematory grounds so that they can perform the due rituals for the departed.

The petitioner said that since there was no proper space allocated for carrying out such rituals, Sikhs had to carry bodies of their loved ones to Attock, Punjab for cremation ceremony.

Furthermore the petitioner added that commuting the body to Attock itself was not an easy task as there are no separate ambulance services provided to the Sikh community for meeting their purpose.

The petitioner claimed that the KP government had already allotted millions of funds for the establishment of a crematory ground and a Christian cemetery. However, the officials of the Religious Affairs and Auqaf Department were delaying the utilization of these funds.

The petition demands from the government to provide a proper crematory ground and an ambulance service to the Sikh community.

The case will be heard by a two-member bench comprising of Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Arshad Ali of Peshawar High Court.

Later on the hearing was conducted, during which administratir of KP Auqaf Daprtment and Town I nazim were summoned by the court.

During the hearing, KP Aditional Advocate General (AAG) Qaiser Khan informed the court that measures had been taken to facilitate the Sikh community but the work has not been done due to the differences between the community members.

Justice Hilali questioned Khan that why couldn’t the governmnet provide even a single crematory ground when they were able to dig ditches all across the city for the Rapid Bus.

High court judge remarked that the court will retrieve the money withheld by the authorities.

Furthermore, the court directed the AAG to do whatever possible and within their capacity to help the Sikh community in the province.

The court adjourned the hearing untill May 31, summoning the officials to report on the matter.

Chairperson of Pakistan’s Sikh community Radesh Singh Toni informed the media that the KP government had allocated Rs 30 million in 2017 for a crematory ground but on the condition that a land amounting to Rs 100,000 per marla should be purchased for it.

Toni said that it was out of question to find land in Peshawar city within the given price range.

The issue of non availability of a cremation ground for Sikhs and Hindus has been a lingering issue for their population residing in Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Kohat, Malakand, Swat, Bunir, Nowshera and Peshawar. Both the communities spend thousands of rupees on the transport of their dead to be cremated in Attock.