Hindu woman’s burial denied in Muslim graveyard

Jacobabad police disperse crowd, help Oodh community burry the body

KARACHI:

Dozens of people reportedly stopped Hindus from burying a body in a Muslim graveyard in Thull town of district Jacobabad, though both the communities have shared the facility for years, locals said.

The incident took place on Wednesday when the Hindu Oodh community members came to the town’s main cemetery to enter the remains of Nazi wife of Kevo Mal.

Thull-based journalist, Zahid Gul Mastoi told The Express Tribune that the minority community people were harassed and were asked to take back the body.

“The body was lying in the open ground for about three hours,” he said.

The Oodh community staged a protest outside the graveyard and demanded the Muslim residents to allow them to bury the body.

“Hindu men and women were requesting Muslims but no one was listening to them,” Mastoi said.

He said that police reached the spot after a few hours and dispersed Muslim residents and helped Hindus to bury the body.

“It was first such incident in Thull,” he added.

The area residents said that the graveyard has been used by both the communities for years.

According to Mukesh Meghwar, a Hindu activist, these issues were being reported for last 10 years.

“Hindus, especially those from the lower castes, do not have separate graveyards anywhere in Sindh,” he said.

“We have a small portion in almost every small and major town of the province,” he added.

Meghwar reminded that grave of Bhoro Bheel was dug out in Badin in 2013.

“That was the first such kind of incident,” he said.

He said that the fear prevails among Hindus when such incidents are reported.

“Where should they bury their bodies without a graveyard,” he questioned.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2021.