While people are facing a severe problem in burying their loved ones, as all graveyards in the garrison city have run out of space, Christians got their separate cemetery in the new Rakh Dhamial Graveyard.
The Christian cemetery on 100-kanal was inaugurated on Tuesday by Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Hassan Waqar Cheema.
The deputy commissioner said that Christians will also be given a free bus to transport dead bodies to the cemetery.
The registration certificate of the new cemetery has also been issued to Anjuman-e-Christian-Qabristan.
Anjuman-e-Christian-Qabristan Chairman Pastor Ilyas Masih, Vice-Chairman Liauqat Abdullah, Finance Secretary Ishaq Masih, Asif James, Salim Masih, Tariq Masih and Haroon George Pastor were alsp present during the inauguration of the cemetery.
Pastor Ilyas said that there was no separate cemetery for Christians in the garrison city as the existing ones were full. He said that they were facing severe difficulties to bury the dead. “The deputy commissioner has done us a favour by accepting our big demand. This is a new modern cemetery with all facilities,” he said.
The cemetry has complete facilities including a funeral home and pyre and running water.
In the first phase, 100-kanal has been allocated for Christians, which will be increased in the future as per the need.
Dhamial is a large suburb of Rawalpindi. A vast modern cemetery has been built here on 10,000 acres of land. The Christian cemetary has been declared adjacent to the Muslim cemetery.
All 54 graveyards in Rawalpindi city and the cantonment are filled to capacity.
Currently, all cemeteries in the city have fallen into the hands of the graveyard mafia who charge as much as up to Rs34,000 for digging a grave. The graves that were not visited by families were being demolished by these people to build a new ones.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2023.
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