The small but vibrant Sikh community of Swat, despite its historical existence in the region, has had to make do without a dedicated crematorium, for what seems like time immemorial.
For the past 20 years, following destruction of the community’s two canal crematorium in the 2010 floods, local Sikhs have had to remain reliant on the generosity of their neighbours and the ownerless edges of rivers to carry out the final rites of their deceased. “Sometimes our Muslim friends would offer us the peripheries of their fields as cremation ground. Other times, we’d perform the ritual under open sky, by the river bank, where our women and children would sit on the rocks.
It was quite uncomfortable and also pose many security risks,” Bhansari Lal, a social worker from the community recalled. However, owing to an act of neighbourly kindness, Sikh families of Swat, Barikot and Khawaja Khel, have now been granted a 1.5 kanal land for a dedicated crematorium, a stone’s throw from the Mingora Bypass Road. The land, allegedly worth millions, was generously sold to the community at the rat of Rs. 100 per foot, by a local Muslim family. Since then, a wall has been erected around the patch of land to demarcate the new crematorium’s boundaries.
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The floor has been constructed, while there are plans to add a rest-house for dignitaries with arrangements for cooking to also be made available. According to Aman Lala, member of the family that offered the land, the local Sikh community has held a strong bond with the region and its inhabitants and stood with them in their times of joy and sorrow. “Swat has been home to some of the most educated Sikh community members in the region for the past 50 years.
They are among our doctors and teachers, who’ve served the land tirelessly and the crematorium land is a gift to them from the village of Swat,” expressed Lala. Speaking in the regard, recently elected Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) minority candidate from Swat, Senator Gardib Singh, told The Express Tribune that he had asked the Wazirzada some six months ago to reconstruct and renovate the crematorium land with concrete, in addition to seeking funds for a community hall.
“Now Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also approved a fund of Rs10 million, which will not only alleviate the sense of deprivation of the minority community in Swat but also meet the long standing demands of the local Hindu and Sikh community,” he told. According to Sardeep Kumar, who has been put in-charge of the Swat crematorium, a committee has been formed for the upkeep of the Sikh burial place. “Although the land was gifted to us on remarkably discounted rates, we still had to crowdfund Rs800 as donation from each family to begin construction. Now much of the work is complete and the crematorium almost ready, for which remain grateful to our Muslim brothers and sisters,” he told The Express Tribune
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