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Anti-cremation laws not directed at Hindus, says minister

Cremation of bodies is not allowed in 24 countries but the practice is not a specific discrimination against the Hindus, Minister of State for External Affairs Vasundhara Raje told the Rajya Sabha during question hour today.

The practice does not also involve violation of human rights and hence the government had not taken up the matter in international fora, she said.

Replying to Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the minister said the rules are applicable to believers of all religious faiths.

The countries which do not allow cremation of bodies are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Cape Verde islands, Guinea Bissau, Tunisia, Greece, Israel, Libya, Burkina Faso, Malta, Maldives, Ivory Coast, Niger, Guinea, Micronesia, Paraguay and Turkmenistan.

The minister said that when the matter was taken up with the authorities concerned, some of them formally regretted their inability to accede to India's request because it violated their own rules, practices, and because formal legal opinion there stipulated that the only way to dispose of a body was by burial.

Some countries stated that they did not have crematoria. One of them said the Orthodox Church did not allow cremation of dead bodies.

The next of kin of the dead, if they so desire, are permitted to take the body either to the nearest country where cremation is allowed or to take it to the home country for cremation, the minister said.

UNI

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