Hyderabad: Despite the Wakf Board warning graveyard managing committees against the collection of money from families of the dead, the practice has continued unchecked.
A few days ago, a video which showed a member of the Goshamahal graveyard managing committee demanding Rs 10,000 from the family of a deceased person went viral on social media.
Ilyas Shamshi, a social activist from Golconda, says, “It clearly shows that the Board’s plans are only on paper. Not much has been achieved on this front.” Wakf graveyards have been set up on parcels of land that were endowed to the Wakf Board decades ago, for the benefit of the community.
The Board appoints a managing committee to look into the day-to-day affairs and maintenance of the premises. Abdul Samad, a social activist from Basheerbagh, says, “Committee members extort money from families of the dead under some pretext or the other. If the families refuse to pay, they are asked to look for an alternate place for the burial. In such a situation, the families agree to part with the money and then they forget about it.”
He suggests that a complaint cell should be set up by the Board, so that people may report their grievances. The managing committees of some graveyards which are located within shrines demand '1 lakh for the allotment of two square yards of land adjacent to a dargah. “As the religious beliefs of certain sections of society are associated with these places, people agree to pay the amount,” says Mr Ilyas Shamshi.
Mohammed Saleemuddin, the Chairman of the Wakf Board, says that committees will be suspended if they are found collecting money from the public. “We are determined. That come what may, no one should collect money from people. If they need money for cleaning or beautifying the premises, they can approach the Board,” he says.
