WE LIVE IN SUCH A SORRY STATE OF AFFAIRS WHERE PEOPLE FROM MARGINALIZED CASTES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO CREMATE THEIR BODIES ON NOTIFIED GROUNDS - MADRAS HC

The Madras High Court mourned the practice of prohibiting the cremation of persons belonging to marginalized castes in common burial grounds and continued in several villages. Justice N Anand Venkatesh termed such exclusion a loathsome practice and observed that "people belonging to marginalized castes are forced to cremate the bodies in places that are not notified as a burial ground. And such obnoxious practice should be immediately stopped. Everyone must have the right to bury or cremate in the burial ground irrespective of the caste to which they belong. The curse of the caste system is so prevalent in villages that even at the time of cremation, it does not seem to leave. Alas, we live in such a sorry state of affairs."

If the cremation of a deceased is prevented due to his marginalized caste or community, immediate action must be taken in accordance with the law.  Stringent action is required against such perpetrators of crime to bring it under control. 

The Court was hearing a petition against the cremation of dead bodies at a government land in Pollachi. The petitioner claimed that the land was needed to access certain property that belonged to her husband. The HC was informed that the land was used to cremate dead bodies of people belonging to the lower caste, as the members of that community were not allowed to cremate bodies in the nearby burial ground.

The Government, in its response, submitted that it had been issued to the Block Development Officer, who will ensure that people belonging to all such communities are permitted to use the common ground. 

The Court disposed of the matter after hearing the submission made by the Government. It directed the authorities to ensure that people irrespective of their caste can bury bodies in the notified ground. 

Author: Papiha Ghoshal