Christians from the orthodox churches - Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Anglican - and many other sects, as well, have to be buried in consecrated ground, blessed in a religious ceremony. That is a distinction given only to the observant; those found to be non-observant to a pronounced degree - the rules are very, very clear - are not allowed such burial.
It has nothing to do with availability of space, never mind what a buffoon says, or the vast ownership of land by the Church (again so wholly irresponsible as to cause laughter), and even less to do with feuding within the Church.
Excommunicating the whole family is impossible. The individual is in communion with God, not a family.
Why are you giving that hopeless and brain-foundered idiot undue importance, first, by reading his rambling posts, and second, by wasting time commenting on them? DO NOT FEED TROLLS!
I just shared my experience... and i mentioned it... Church asked us to bury my sister body outside as there is no space...
Finding a home in Delhi can be maddeningly expensive but securing a final resting place is harder still with graveyards running out of room, forcing the dead to jostle for space.
Escalating land prices, encroachment, urbanisation and population are constricting the city's cemeteries and at many of these facilities auctions now decide who gets to rest in peace.
The cost of burial at most Muslim graveyards in Delhi begins at Rs 5,000 and can go up to Rs 15,000, depending upon availability. At the historic Mehndiyan cemetery behind Lok Nayak Hospital in central Delhi, the cost ranges between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh.
"Due to a space crunch, the prices go up and whoever is willing to pay a higher amount is allotted the burial space," said Munna Singh, a caretaker who has been looking after the Delhi Gate graveyard for 35 years.
A public notice put up by the authorities of the Paharganj cemetery
A burial at a Christian cemetery costs between `3,000 and `10,000. But the price is higher at some facilities. With a spike in complaints, the Delhi Minorities Commission will begin a survey on the city's graveyards within a month.
"There is no space in our area to bury the dead. The Muslim population here is more than 50,000 and there is not even a single graveyard," said 40-year-old Abdul Wahid Qureshi, a resident of northwest Delhi's Inderlok.
"We have been writing to various authorities, asking for land where we can peacefully bury the bodies." Qureshi, like many others, had approached the commission.
"We are working on the matter. Recently, groups of people from west and east Delhi came to us, complaining about the shortage of graveyards in their respective areas. Residents of Aya Nagar in south Delhi have also highlighted the shortage of cemeteries in their area," Qamar Ahmad, chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission, told Mail Today. The first-of-its-kind study will be outsourced to a private agency and will have minute details about the graveyards.
"The number of graveyards or cemeteries has not increased in proportion to the population for the last three decades. So, there is a shortage for both communities," added Ahmad.
Residents say they have been repeatedly writing to authorities on the space crunch
The Muslim population in Delhi is estimated to be around four million and Christians about 8,00,000. Migration from other states has also spurred the city's population growth.
"When there is no space, how are we going to accommodate the dead? Relatives of the dead also erect concrete structures over the burial site," said Jyotsana Thomas, a resident of east Delhi's Mayur Vihar.
Apart from the space crunch, poor maintenance is adding to the woes of these graveyards. Encroachment, construction of concrete tombs, non-allotment of land for new cemeteries and a huge demand for burial grounds attached to dargahs and mosques are the biggest problems.
"There is no space left for expansion. All the nearby land has been acquired by colonies," Ahmad said.
Officials say even rural pockets in the Capital now have multi-storey buildings and offices. Agricultural land is being turned into commercial and residential land, with scores of colonies mushrooming in the past decade, leaving no space for the dead.
The commission earlier reported the matter to the Delhi government, but no action was initiated. Sources in the government said paucity of land in the city is a major roadblock.
The Muslim graveyards in the Capital are managed by a clutch of committees comprising six to 12 members each. For the Christian community, burial grounds are managed by two organisations - the Delhi Cemetery Committee and Indian Cemetery Committee.
@Joe Shearer ... every Church does have executive committee elected by Church members... if the Graveyard is not public but belongs to Church ... these committee takes decision..
NO VACANCIES
Father Rebello's problems are with the present, not the past.
"The cemetery is closed now. There's no space anymore," he told Reuters at New Delhi's Sacred Heart Cathedral.
Only "second burials" are allowed - when relatives move the deceased's cremated remains to a niche and use the vacated lot for a new body.
In fact, five of Delhi's 11 old Christian cemeteries are full. The government had allocated land for a new cemetery but that is getting crammed too, said Rebello, a Roman Catholic priest from the former Portuguese colony of Goa.
"We're fighting. The government does not give easily. We are a minority," he said.
The small staff of gravetenders often have to chase away drug addicts, who climb over the wall to seek peace and seclusion to indulge their habit, he said.
Funds are also a problem. The graveyard charges a small fee from relatives to clean the graves and clear away the weeds which sprout relentlessly.
So modern India has encroached on the graveyard. One way to raise money has been to rent it to Bollywood movie productions as a set.
But after the plot of one movie involved an assassination attempt on a politician by a bishop, the committee now vets scripts to make sure they are appropriate. Anything too racy - no doubt with the silent approval of the Victorians lying there - will not be allowed.
"We don't permit any semi-nudity and things like that here," Rebello said.
@Iggy
@Joe Shearer whom you are refering buffoon??
my point is clear... I said possibly due to these type conditions.. some Church committee take decision not to allow outside of Church.... I have seen cases where people buying land close to these graveyard... In priyanka chopra mothers case.. I don't know what could be the reason.. it could be due to Baptized or the ex committee decision or what so ever... When i shared my view what is wrong in it... does that mean they can insult whole community or Churches..
Cos I do have a Syrian Christian friend and he shared his thoughts with me, when he loved a girl belonging to a Saurastra community with nativity from Madurai
And I even know the ugly truth's the Syrian churches go to the extent to ex-communicate the whole family from the Church, denied into another Syrian churches. Only the high influence families can save themselves.
