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1:00pm Friday 9th May 2008
THE Borough of Poole has scrapped a policy which meant Muslims had to pay more for their graves than other locals.
Muslims believe they should be buried south-east, facing Mecca, which means they may need to take up two plots.
With the council running out of burial space, it was normal practice to charge for both plots.
But Clive Smith, head of leisure services, who is responsible for cemeteries at the council, said the policy had been reviewed.
"With immediate effect in all Poole cemeteries, if two plots are needed in order to meet the needs of personal belief or faith such as in the Muslim example, only one will be charged for," he said.
He added: "We are hoping to deliver a new cemetery serving Poole and Bournemouth and we will be jointly consulting on design in order to completely avoid such issues in the future."
Majid Yasin, imam and director of Bournemouth Islamic Centre, said: "I am grateful to the Borough of Poole for being helpful in this matter. At least they are considering Muslims.
"The council in Bournemouth treats Muslims like second-class citizens and I wish our Islamic centre was in Poole.
"The problem, however, is not whether you charge for one or two plots but whether there should be a separate cemetery for Muslims,like the Jews have their own cemetery.
"There are about 3,000 Muslims in Bournemouth. Just a few weeks ago one of them passed away and we had to send him to Bangladesh to be buried."
Canon Jonathan Martin, Chaplain for Poole, said: "At the point of grief, people should not have to worry about paying more for their grave than others.
"We should be demonstrating hospitality to other faiths.
"It's important that we make people feel welcome in our community."
Michael Edwards, head of public protection at Bournemouth council, said: "We are very considerate of all religious and secular requests concerning burials and cremations and always try to meet specific needs.
"For example, our burial service runs 365 days a year to enable burial within 24 hours in line with some religious requirements.
"Unfortunately space in our existing cemeteries is limited and we do not have a designated area for Muslim burials.
"We do strive to carry out Muslim burials without incurring extra expense for families but occasionally two graves are needed to meet specific requests and our charges reflect this.
"If we are in a position to lay out a new cemetery in the future, we hope to be able to provide sections for different religious groups that better meet their individual requirements."
The General, Poole says...
2:06pm Fri 9 May 08
ctessex, London says...
2:48pm Fri 9 May 08
jquain, Ringwood says...
2:49pm Fri 9 May 08
Maria, christchurch says...
3:06pm Fri 9 May 08
PokesdownMark, Pokesdown says...
3:19pm Fri 9 May 08
Christopher, Wallisdown & Winton West says...
3:58pm Fri 9 May 08
PETE WOODLEY, says...
5:26pm Fri 9 May 08
Christopher wrote:Careful Chris,or your comment will be removed,This is the New Britain.
Here we go again, one rule for one and another rule for others. Why cannot other religions accept like we have to that there is at the moment a lack of burial spaces available to accommodate all religions.
If any other religion wishes to have special burial treatments then may I suggest that they buy a piece of land somewhere and implement their own burial ground.
Incidentally, if you do not like the way Bournemouth is, then move, it is easy as that
beachhut, southbourne says...
6:00pm Fri 9 May 08
Noel, Bournemouth says...
6:03pm Fri 9 May 08
Noel, Bournemouth says...
6:07pm Fri 9 May 08
The General wrote:yawn, old fallacies are the best fallacies.
Religion:
A major contributory factor of hatred and war.
Religion is a personal belief, and she be regarded as such.
Frederick Jones, Southbourne says...
6:09pm Fri 9 May 08
Maria, christchurch says...
6:38pm Fri 9 May 08
MIG, Poole says...
7:29pm Fri 9 May 08
Mike Pickering, Bournemouth says...
7:37pm Fri 9 May 08
Probably Frederick, as long as it is not Christian Faith of course, that wouldn't be pc enough.
Erica Monk, Australia says...
5:15am Sat 10 May 08
laurie marsh, australia says...
9:11am Sat 10 May 08
PETE WOODLEY, says...
10:59am Sat 10 May 08
laurie marsh wrote:If you are so concerned about whats happening here why dont you come back ?,you dont see us sticking our noses in to whats happening where you are,
THIS HAS TO BE THE BIGGEST LOAD OF PC EVER.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WAIT UNTIL 2 OR 3 MUSLIMS DIE AND SWING THEM SIDEWAYS TO BURY THEM (OR MARK OUT 2 OR 3 PLOTS ACCORDINGLY).
THAT WAY EVERY-ONE IS HAPPY APART FROM THE DECEASEDS FAMILY WHO ARE SUFFERING ENOUGH ANYWAY.
IF PEOPLE WANT TO WALK AROUND WITH TENTS OVER THEIR HEADS SO BE IT!
THIS IS NO REASON TO HATE THEM OR INVADE THEIR COUNTRIES.
THE KORAN DOES NOT MENTION THIS MODE OF DRESS NOR DOES THE BIBLE MENTION THAT PRIESTS BE CELIBATE.
ALL THIS STUFF COMES FROM THE SMALL MINDED PEOPLE THAT HIGHJACK THESE RELIGIONS.
PETE WOODLEY, says...
11:01am Sat 10 May 08
laurie marsh wrote:If you are so concerned about whats happening here why dont you come back ?,you dont see us sticking our noses in to whats happening where you are,
THIS HAS TO BE THE BIGGEST LOAD OF PC EVER.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS WAIT UNTIL 2 OR 3 MUSLIMS DIE AND SWING THEM SIDEWAYS TO BURY THEM (OR MARK OUT 2 OR 3 PLOTS ACCORDINGLY).
THAT WAY EVERY-ONE IS HAPPY APART FROM THE DECEASEDS FAMILY WHO ARE SUFFERING ENOUGH ANYWAY.
IF PEOPLE WANT TO WALK AROUND WITH TENTS OVER THEIR HEADS SO BE IT!
THIS IS NO REASON TO HATE THEM OR INVADE THEIR COUNTRIES.
THE KORAN DOES NOT MENTION THIS MODE OF DRESS NOR DOES THE BIBLE MENTION THAT PRIESTS BE CELIBATE.
ALL THIS STUFF COMES FROM THE SMALL MINDED PEOPLE THAT HIGHJACK THESE RELIGIONS.
Christopher, Wallisdown & Winton West says...
11:25am Sat 10 May 08
beachhut wrote:I am not saying they should, what I am saying stop harping on about the way things are. They want to live in this country, then they have to abide the way things are, and if that means paying for two burial plots then so be it. My mother and father were cremated, and then interned in a grave which holds four plots. We had to pay for that although more than likely only the two will be used. Thats the way it is, we did not moan about it.
Well Chris, someone doesn't like to be intergrated. Why should anyone be charged for having a preference to the way the face in death. Why not just cremate everyone then they can be scattered into the rays of a new days sunrise, with plaques and pictures set for us to offer thanks and rememberence.
This world will only be at peace when each person is allowed to celebrate his/her on beliefs without need to force it upon others. So Mr Media stop making stories out of religious diffences, and let it be.
laurie marsh, australia says...
11:31am Sat 10 May 08
zigzag, Poole says...
12:03pm Sat 10 May 08
2Much, New Forest says...
6:11am Mon 12 May 08
zigzag wrote:Totally agree..you want two loaves of bread, you have pay for two loaves of bread!
I find it almost laughable that anyone can even remotely class this as discrimination. If you take up 2 plots then quite simply you should pay for 2 plots!
As someone who does not hold any religious beliefs why should my council tax money go towards paying for extra cemetery space for those that do?
It's about time the government and local authorities took a stand against all these believers in Biblical twaddle (be they Christians, Muslims, Catholics or whatever) and banned religious teachings from schools in favour of a decent education where children are taught to use their own minds rather than have religion thrust upon them by their parents.
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The General, Poole says...
2:06pm Fri 9 May 08
A major contributory factor of hatred and war.
Religion is a personal belief, and she be regarded as such.