British Court To Hear Challenge to Ban On Hindu Funeral Pyres

In Britain, a high court today begins a 3-day hearing in a challenge by an elderly Hindu man to Newcastle's ban on open-air cremations. Both the Guardian and the Telegraph report on the test case brought by the founder of the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society. Davender Ghai asserts that if Britain's 1902 Cremation Act is read to ban outdoor cremations, it violates the European Convention on Human Rights. Ghai claims that Newcastle's City Council discriminated against him on the basis of race and religion when it denied his request that, upon his death, he be cremated on a funeral pyre as required by Hindu tradition. Justice secretary Jack Straw supports the city, arguing that the restrictions are justified by public health and safety. (See prior related posting.)