’Practice of having separate burial ground for SC Christians should be abolished’
An NGO leader has called for the abolition of separate burial grounds for Scheduled Caste Christians, labeling the practice as a form of untouchability. The demand follows a dispute in Tiruchi district where a deceased SC Christian was initially denied burial in a common cemetery.
Why it matters
The incident underscores ongoing social tensions regarding caste-based discrimination within religious communities in India.
The practice of having a separate burial ground for Scheduled Caste Christians should be abolished, said A. Kathir, executive director, Evidence, an NGO.
Speaking to media persons here on Wednesday, he said Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay should intervene in this issue as it amounted to untouchability. He cited a recent incident in Tiruchi district, where the body of an SC Christian, Raju, 89, was not allowed to be buried in the common burial ground by dominant Christian groups.
He said Raju and his wife Saleth Mary, 82, both retired teachers, lived in Kottapalayam near Thuraiyur. The couple had three sons and three daughters. One among the three sons worked as a priest in a church in Rome.
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