Dayal Singh, the elder brother of Suchan Singh, who lives in Peshawar, was shot dead by unknown persons in his shop a few months ago. Suchan Singh also had to go through many painful steps to perform his brother’s last rites after the tragedy as there is no crematorium in Peshawar.
He had to take his brother’s dead body to Attock at a cost of around one lakh rupees. It was not possible for Suchan Singh to manage this amount due to poor financial conditions. However, with the help of the community, he somehow managed to collect money and perform the last rites of his brother.
A large number of the Sikh community in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were living in the tribal districts, many of whom migrated to Peshawar after the unrest there.
In 2008, the provincial government announced the construction of a crematorium for these people in Peshawar, but it was never implemented.
Against this delay, Babaji Gorpal Singh, a social leader of the Sikh community, filed a writ petition in the Peshawar High Court, which is yet to be decided.
Babaji Gorpal Singh says that before the partition of the subcontinent, there were about ten crematoriums in Peshawar. Still, today there is not even one while the population of Sikhs is more than 10 thousand, and a significant number of Hindus also live here.
All these people perform the last rites of their deceased in Attock District, about 100 kilometers away from Peshawar. About two hundred Sikh families in Attock have purchased land on the banks of the river for a cremation ground with their help, the cost of which is met by taking annual donations from the community.
Babaji says that it is not easy for every family to take the body of their loved ones so far. Car rental from Peshawar to Attock costs at least 70 thousand. Due to this reason, many people in the community miss out on attending the last rites.
He said that in August 2020, the provincial government had promised to start work as soon as possible to provide necessary facilities at a crematorium established in the Bara area of the Khyber tribal district adjacent to Peshawar, but the matter could not go ahead of the promise.
When the district administration of Khyber was asked about this, the officials said that a detailed report had been prepared regarding the crematorium, but they expressed ignorance regarding any plan or its implementation.
Baba Ji says that if the facilities are available in Bara’s crematorium and the law and order situation in the area is improved, it will be easier for the people of the Sikh community in Peshawar to perform the last rites of their dead and organize religious ceremonies there.
Harun Sarab Dayal, who works for the rights of religious minorities, says that in the second government of Tehreek-e-Insaf in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5 billion 20 crore rupees were set aside for the welfare of religious minorities, of which 1 billion 13 crore rupees were allocated for crematoriums and Christian cemeteries.
However, he says that people were included in the committee formed for the construction of crematoriums on political grounds. The places he identified were not suitable for this purpose.
According to Hindu religious belief, a cremation ground should be away from the population and on the banks of a river, and once a place has been designated for it, it cannot be changed.
He said that there are currently nine crematoriums in the province, out of which only one has been built according to religious principles. Apart from this, most of the crematoriums lack the necessary facilities. That is why 90 percent of the Hindu population of the province is forced to bury their loved ones instead of burning them.
Bara
In Tehsil Bara of Khyber, Muzamil Shah’s family has been living in the building of the local crematorium for the past twelve years. Located on Bais Kanal, this fort-like cremation ghat is established in Kalinga. The Sikh community has migrated from this area, leaving Muzmal’s family in charge of the place. However, there are not many facilities including electricity. He says that several times the authorities visited the place and announced to supply electricity, install tubewell, and give jobs to two people to maintain the place, but it has not been implemented yet.
When the Deputy Secretary of Awqaf and Religious Affairs Department, Rizwana Dar, was asked about this, he said that the department does not have any information in this regard, nor did the minority representative in the provincial assembly make any contact with the institution in this regard.
Wilson, the member of the provincial assembly who was elected on the only minority seat of the merged districts, says that the reason for the absence of facilities in the Bara cremation ground is that the district administration could not prepare the PC-1 in time and the annual development fund was canceled.
Swat
Sardar Homi Singh, a social worker working for the minority community in Swat and Buner district, says that the crematorium in this area was destroyed in the 2010 floods, after which a new crematorium was built on the Swat Mingora Bypass with the help of the Muslim population. It was also severely damaged in the floods in August last year. After the flood, the government started its reconstruction at a cost of Rs 80 lakh, which has not yet been completed.
Buner
Homi Singh said that the cremation ghat in Buner district was built in 1980, but half of it was covered by the road during the construction of the bypass nearby. The administration has allocated Rs 50 lakh to construct a new crematorium at another location, but the work has not yet started.
Terah
Manjeet Singh, who resides in Wadi Tirah, a tourist destination of Khyber district, said that some time ago there were about 450 Sikh families living in this area who left their homes, agricultural lands, and businesses and moved to Peshawar, Hasan Abdal, and Nankana Sahib due to unrest.
Sardar Homi Singh, a social worker working for the minority community in Swat and Buner district, says that the crematorium in this area was destroyed in the 2010 floods, after which a new crematorium was built on the Swat Mingora Bypass with the help of the Muslim population. It was also severely damaged in the floods in August last year. After the flood, the government started its reconstruction at a cost of Rs 80 lakh, which has not yet been completed.
Buner
Homi Singh said that the cremation ghat in Buner district was built in 1980, but half of it was covered by the road during the construction of the bypass nearby. The administration has allocated Rs 50 lakh to construct a new crematorium at another location, but the work has not yet started.
Terahum and a children’s crematorium for minorities in Shalobar Qamber Khel. Similarly, Malik Deen Khel has three crematoriums and a children’s cemetery owned by the Sikh community and has all the facilities.
Manjeet Singh says that the Sikh community has been living in this area for many generations, so they have ideal protection here, but due to the lack of four walls around the crematoriums and graveyards, these places continue to be damaged by cattle and animals.
Kohat/Hungu
There is a cremation ground for Hindus and Sikhs in Kohat district, where people from minority communities from Dera Ismail Khan, 233 km away, and Bannu, 140 km away, come to perform the last rites of their loved ones as there are no crematoriums in their respective districts.
Haroon Sarab Dayal said that this cremation ground is not on the river bank, so people here after cremating their relatives collect the ashes and throw them in the river near Khushalgarh on Pindi Road.
For this purpose, they have to travel a long way, so it is necessary to construct a crematorium in Khushalgarh itself.
Hakam Das, a leader of the Hindu community living in Hasan Abdal after migrating from the tribal district of Karam, says that 650 families of his community in Karam left the area after the Shia-Sunni riots in 2006 and moved to Kohat, Peshawar, and Hasan Abdal due to the security threat.
They say that the lands left by them in their native areas are being encroached upon. Among them is the Hindu Bhari graveyard in the Amalkot area of Karam, where they used to bury small children. They have informed the administration and security agencies about the attempts of local people to occupy it, but no action has been taken so far.
Rizwana Dar says that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in February 2019 approved the purchase of four kanals of land for a crematorium at the cost of Rs 90 lakh for the Sikh community of Peshawar, for which the search for a suitable site is on.
A few months ago, a site was selected with the advice of the Sikh community, but the Muslim population living nearby objected and the decision had to be canceled.