Sikhs want another river for ashes of their dead
THE Sikh community in Lancashire wants the use of part of the Ribble, which is now used by boaters, to be reserved for the scattering of human ashes, Debbi Figueiredo reveals.
The religion dictates that the cremated remains of family members are disposed of in a river.
They say that Sikh families are forced to take the ashes of family members back to India to be disposed of because there isn't a designated waterway.
The Ribble in which ashes would be scattered
Charanjit Singh Heera, General Secretary of the Lancashire Sikh Association said that, while he knew that people were already scattering ashes in the Ribble, the community wanted part of the river to be a designated site to be used solely for this ceremony.
He announced:
"We want to be somewhere where we won't disturb people and they won't disturb us and the remains can be scattered properly in a place where they will be properly distributed in the water.
"When my parents died I had to fly back to India with their ashes. It would be so nice if there was somewhere in Lancashire where families could go to do this so they didn't have to go through all that."
Of course the Soar is already such a designated river for the scattering of ashes, but which is causing consternation amongst boaters as more and more objects are being thrown into the river and there is now the added worry that the cremating of bodies on the river is being muted.
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