Sikhs are not “Hindus”!

A query from the Cremation Society of Great Britain about a report in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle has sparked a row between the Anglo-Asian Society and nationwide Sikh organisations.

In his response to the Cremation Society of Great Britain asking for the Sikh view about open air funeral pyres, Gurmukh Singh from the British Sikh Consultative Forum, wrote that the Sikhs have their own religious Code of Conduct & Conventions (The Sikh Reht Maryada). This should be consulted by any organisation claiming to represent the Sikh religion.

The Sikh religious position had been made clear to the media and Mr Davender Ghai, President of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society last year. The question of open air funerals had been extensively discussed in open Sikh forums and the actions of Davender Ghai, condemned.

The BBC were forced to make public apologies for misreporting on this same issue in December 2006.

We have been here before!

Julie Forrest of The Cremation Society of Great Britain drew attention of Sikh organisations to a report in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle of 29th June, 2007. The heading of the report by Sonia Sharma reads, “Religious equivalent of the Pope supports open air funeral campaign. Hindu leader backs pyres bid.” A Swami Divyanand Teerth described as “religious equivalent of the Pope” is quoted by The Newcastle Evening Chronicle reporter as saying, “Cremation in the open air is the birthright of Hindus and Sikhs as well as their unalterable duty.” According to the report, Davendar Ghai of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society, “who organised the open air funeral of Rajpal Mehat in Newcastle last year, has won legal aid to fight his case in the High Court.” Rajpal Mehat, an illegal immigrant according to the Sikh Federation UK, has been incorrectly described as a Sikh. The report goes on to claim, “Sikh organisations have also approved the charity’s legal team indicating they want to support the judicial review in court.”

The Sikh Fedration’s response to the Cremation Society reads, “We are satisfied with the services offered in UK crematoria….We have publicly condemned Davender Ghai and his illegal actions. Given our contacts with the Gurdwaras (the main Sikh organisations) in the North East we do not think any meaningful Sikh organisation, with any real representational capacity, would have approached the charity’s legal team indicating they want to support the judicial review in court. Davender Ghai should be challenged to specify which Sikh organisations.”

There were two attachments to the Sikh federation’s response to the Cremation Society:
First attachment is a “Daily Telegraph” report of 15 July 2006 with the headline, “Pyre was a mistake, say Sikhs”. The report incorrectly describes a Hindu Rajpal Mehat, who was “burned” on an open as a “Sikh”. A point taken up by Dr Indarjit Singh of the Network of Sikh Organisations with the BBC (see boxed item) for giving the same false impression without proper investigation. To quote from the Daily Telegraph report: “A Sikh organisation has criticised the decision to allow the first open-air funeral in Britain for 72 years. The remains of Rajpal Mehat, a 31-year-old Indian-born Sikh, were burned on a pyre in Stamfordham, Northumberland, on Wednesday.

“The cremation went ahead in accordance with Hindu customs after his family contacted Davender Ghai, the president of the Newcastle-based Anglo-Asian Friendship Society. Northumbria police allowed it to take place but said later that it contravened the Cremation Act 1902.

“Yesterday the Sikh Federation (UK) accused the authorities of making “a major mistake” and claimed Mr Ghai had organised the funeral simply to attract attention to his campaign for funeral pyres to be allowed in Britain. The Sikh view, said the federation, was that a conventional cremation was satisfactory because a dead body had “absolutely no religious significance whatsoever”. It called on the Crown Prosecution Service to take Mr Ghai to court. Mr Ghai said last night: “All I have done is to obey the family’s wishes. It went ahead with the blessing of the police.”

The second attachment is the Federation’s press release with the heading, “Sikhs outraged at open-air funeral pyres.” and relates to the same Daily Telegraph report.

Harmander Singh of Sikhs In England responded to the Cremation Society along similar lines. To quote, “Many thanks for your e-mail to Sikhs In England concerning Mr Ghai’s absurd suggestions which were vehemently challenged by Sikhs nationally at the time he originally made them and Mr Ghai had to accept that he was not in any way able to represent Sikh interests in this or any other matter. The wrongfull assertion in the BBC news clippings also resulted in the BBC having to give on-air and television apology to the Sikh community for taking Mr Ghai’s assertions as valid and for hurting the feelings and damaging the Sikh community’s identity.”

Ashes Scattered In UK’s Ganges

Sikhs In England have challenged a misleading report by http://news. sky.com/skynews/ article/ of 20 July, 2007. Clarification is also being sought from the “leading Sikh” mentioned in the article. The heading reades,”Ashes Scattered In UK’s Ganges” and some relevant quotes are,“A river on Tyneside could become Britain’s answer to the Ganges as the place for people to scatter the ashes of their loved ones.

“Gateshead Council has designated part of the River Derwent for Sikhs and Hindus to carry out the ceremony, believing that by immersing ashes into flowing water they will be sent to heaven.A leading Sikh, Bahal Singh Dindsa, has praised the council for being “forward-thinking”. But many authorities prohibit the scattering of human remains in UK rivers, for fear of contamination…..The Sikh practice of burning the bodies of the dead on funeral pyres before scattering the ashes is also prohibited under UK law.” This is a damaging and misleading statement about Sikh “practice”. (See boxed item “Sikh Reht Maryada”)

Investigative journalism V. spreading misinformation

Sonia Sharma, Reporter, Evening Chronicle has responded to further queries from Sikh organisations through the Cremation Society of Great Britain (trying to clarify the Sikh practice) as follows, “I have spoken to Mr Ghai about the groups that have shown an interest in the campaign for open air funeral pyres. At this stage they are unwilling to disclose the names of the groups. They are following advice from their legal team and say that all will be revealed when the case is heard at the High Court.”
Despite being alerted about strong objections by Sikh organisations, Sonia Sharma did another report on 12 July this year again associating the Sikhs with this Hindu demand.

To the above, we leave the last word to Harmander Singh of Sikhs In England, “…if there is to be a Judicial Review, this is meant to be open (to the public) process and any representation made will be automatically open to scrutiny. Either Mr Ghai is playing his little games again or more worryingly, he is naive to the implications of what he is getting himself involved in. Either way Mr Ghai will not be able to sustain the argument that the Sikh religion supports his own faith’s position in the way he purports or attempts to portray.”