Ashes of 30 Hindus sent to India for Ganges immersion
The burning pyre of Pramila Devi, 36, who died from complications related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen during her cremation on the banks of the river Ganges in Pauri Garhwal in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, May 24, 2021. Devi's eldest daughter got married and moved away in late April after the family hosted a ceremony attended by over two dozen people, her husband Suresh Kumar, 43, told Reuters. Two weeks after that Devi suffered a bout of diarrhoea. But it was not until 10 days later that Kumar, who has no income and depends on handouts, took her to a nearby dispensary that has been turned into a small COVID-19 facility with four beds. Devi tested positive for COVID-19 with very low blood oxygen levels. She died a day later. REUTERS
The ashes of more than 30 cremated Hindus from various districts of Sindh, including Karachi, have been sent to Haridwar, India, for immersion in the holy Ganges River over the past three months. This became possible due to the revision of the “sponsorship conditions” by the Indian government in view of rising requests from the Hindu community living in Pakistan.
Hindus believe that immersion of human remains or ashes in the Ganges prevents the deceased’s family members from any kind of supernatural disturbances.
Hindus also believe that the Ganges is a gateway to heaven after demise. Haridwar is an ancient city and important Hindu pilgrimage site in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, where the Ganges exits.
Earlier, the government of Narendra Modi did not allow entry to Pakistani Hindu pilgrims without any sponsorship from India, but now New Delhi has decided to issue a 10-day visa to the family members of a dead Hindu to travel to India to immerse the ashes of their loved ones in the Ganges.
Currently, the ashes of approximately 400 cremated Hindus are awaiting departure in temples across Karachi, including the Sonpuri Crematorium near Old Golimar, in Karachi.
More than seven years ago, Bhagwan Das, a resident of Karachi, was granted a visa under the revised sponsorship policy by the Indian government. He utilised the visa to perform the cremation ritual for his late wife at Haridwar. Subsequently, Hindu families from Karachi and rural Sindh and some districts of Balochistan individually applied for Indian visas. Their applications were also approved, allowing their members to visit India for religious rituals and pilgrimages.
In Karachi, Soldier Bazaar and Ranchore Line have sizable Hindu communities who have been living here since long before the Partition of the Subcontinent. Some estimates put their numbers between 100,000 and 150,000. Another nearly half a million Hindus live in Kunri, Nagarparkar, and Islamkot, in Tharparkar district.
Maharaj Ramnath of Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir, a 1,500-year-old hindu temple in Soldier Bazaar, has said that approximately 30 Hindu families from Sindh and Balochistan have been granted visas by the Indian government to perform the last rites of their loved ones at Haridwar.
“The ashes and remains of another 400 cremated Hindus are lying in the temples, including at Sonpuri Crematorium, for which group visas are required,” he added. “This would enable the transportation of these remains in a coordinated convoy, as has been done in the past.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 21st, 2023.