Guwahati: A Supreme Court-appointed committee has strongly stated that the state non-government organizations (NGOs) are preventing the cremation of 88 bodies preserved in Imphal mortuaries.
In this manner, they are obstructing acceptance of ex gratia by kin, and attempting to keep the ethnic cauldron boiling.
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According to media reports the Supreme Court-appointed committee has filed a report after its first field visit.
The committee, which is helmed by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Justice Gita Mittal, said that 88 of the 94 unclaimed bodies preserved in three mortuaries are been identified but civil society organisations (CSOs) active in the state were “exerting tremendous pressure” on relatives not to accept the bodies. The kin were willing to perform the last rites, it added.
The committee stated that the kin was ready to accept bodies for last rites, but “some CSOs are opposing and obstructing the performance of last rites by relatives on account of vested interests, and even in order to derive mileage and to compel authorities to meet unwarranted demands.”
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“Apprehension was also expressed that there are elements interested in maintaining tension between communities and preventing restoration of peace and harmony in the state. For this reason, true and correct facts of the matter are also not being placed before the Supreme Court (by some of the petitioner NGOs),” the committee mentions.
The state government had identified nine locations for burial and cremation and the kin are allowed to choose any one of them. But the CSOs are insisting on mass burial at unsuitable spots.
“Unfortunately, the CSOs are insisting on mass burials at unsuitable spots, which will serve as a source for constant mounting of tension between communities in Manipur and prevent the restoration of normalcy,” the report adds.
The committee has requested the Supreme Court to direct CSOs not to interfere in the acceptance of ex gratia and bodies by relatives for the performance of last rites.
Further, it also said that if the bodies were not accepted by relatives within a specified time, the authorities must be directed to carry out the last rites free of charge as per the Manipur Municipalities Act, 1994.