Graveyard Planned for South Bangalore

By A Staff Writer
Bangalore: The Muslims of South Bangalore would soon have a graveyard with modern funeral washing facility and a mosque with adequate parking. The Bismilla Idgah Khabrastan Trust has acquired six acres of land for the purpose at a cost of Rs. two crore. They are striving to purchase another 4-acre plot of adjacent land in order to expand the facility.
According to Sheikh Omar, President of the Trust, there were no burial grounds in South Bangalore and corpses were to be transported to distant graveyards on Mysore Road or Cantonment Area. The land owner, a philanthropist, has agreed to sell the land at a ten-year old price and initial agreement has been signed. The land would have fetched over Rs. 10 crore at the current rates. The graveyard is located in a village off the Anekal Main Road that leads to Jhigani Industrial area, around 10 kilometres from the Dairy Circle.
Syed Tehsin Ahmed, secretary of the Trust and retired KAS officer, informed Islamic Voice that modern bath facility with separate waiting rooms for male and female mourners would be created at the site. A mosque too would come up. Mr. Ahmed said the six acres site can take around 2,500 graves with pathways in between. He said the management would keep the computerized data of each burial in order to guide the visitors and relatives instead of allowing erection of the memorial plaques which often leads to reservation of sites ultimately rendering the graveyard unuseable after a few years. He cited the Sharia provision which allows use, reuse and continuous use of burial sites.
The Trust has appealed for public donations for the purpose. For more details contact: Sheikh Omar, President, Bismilla Idgah Khabrastan Trust, BTM Layout, Bangalore-29, Ph: 98864-65441, Secretary, Syed Tehsin Ahmed, 99453-64685.