BENGALURU: Members of the Muslim community living in Basavanapura, Aiyappa Nagar, Swatantranagar, Vijaya Bank Colony, Seegehalli and areas surrounding KR Pura have been running from pillar to post to get a piece of land sanctioned as a burial ground.
People from the minority community living in the locality, which has a Muslim population of about 20,000, have to travel about 50km to neighbouring Kolar district to give their loved ones a decent burial, as the issue has remained unaddressed for the past 15 years. The committee members of Masjid-e-Mahmoodia in Basavanapura gave a petition to Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar during the ‘Government at Your Doorstep’ programme on Wednesday, to look into the kabristan (burial ground) issue.
Shahbuddin Khan, secretary of the masjid, said the nearest kabristan is the Medahalli Burial Ground, and last year, the staff there had warned them not to bring any more bodies as their space was also meagre. “The burial ground is hardly 20,000 sqft and hence the committee has asked us not to bring any bodies. In case there is a death now, we have to inform masjid committees in Kolar or Hoskote to seek their permission, and then take the bodies for burial,” said Khan.
He said the deputy commissioner had also written to the tahsildar on March 3, 2023, seeking suitable land, but the file has been gathering dust. Community members did a survey and found three survey numbers to help the revenue department grant a piece of land, which they would be sharing with Bengaluru East tahsildar.
MLA had helped with two sites
Mushtaq Ahmed, president of the masjid committee, stated that a Muslim population of about 20,000 is spread across these areas of KR Pura, and in the past, some bodies were taken about 50km to Kolar district and surroundings for burial.
“MLA Byrathi Basavaraj helped with two 30x40 sites for the Hadi Masjid Committee in Devasandra. The committee is using the sites for burial and has raised objections to bodies coming from surroundings areas in the past few years. If we don’t get any place in the coming days, we will have to travel out of the city for a proper burial,” said Ahmed.