Residents of Panathur Dinne in Bengaluru staged a protest on Wednesday after alleging that they had no accessible cremation ground for conducting funerals in their village. The protesters placed a dead body in front of Panathur Tree Park and demanded that authorities reserve land for a burial and cremation site.
The protest took place in Panathur village under Varthur hobli in Bengaluru East taluk. According to the report by Prajavani, residents said land traditionally used by their ancestors for cremation had not been formally protected for that purpose.
The dispute centres on Survey No. 52, which covers 33.12 acres of government gomala land. Portions of the land have been earmarked for the Adiparashakti temple, a playground and public road use. Residents alleged that at least two to three acres should have been reserved as a cremation ground but were not included in the allocation.
Govind Kumar, Bengaluru city district convener of the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (Ambedkar ideology), said several communities, particularly Dalit communities, lacked suitable places to conduct funerals. He alleged that the Forest Department had occupied or restricted access to the limited land available for cremation.
Kumar further alleged that the Forest Department had earlier allowed the cremation of four or five people described by protesters as wealthy when the park was inaugurated, while preventing poorer and Dalit residents from using the area. The allegations were made during the protest and no response from the Forest Department or other government authorities was included in the report.
Residents said repeated appeals to officials had not resolved the issue. They alleged that grieving families were being forced to take bodies to neighbouring villages because cremation was not permitted at the location they had traditionally used.
The protesters demanded that officials visit the site immediately and either designate land for a cremation ground or provide an assurance that a new site would be sanctioned. They warned of intensified protests if the demand was not addressed.
The demonstration was attended by organisation coordinator K. Manju of Panathur Dinne, Balagere Papanna, and local residents including Gangadhar, Balagere Shivraj, Ramesh, Varthur Madesh, Mohan Gowda, Murthy Gowda, Munesh, G.S.M. Muniraju and Venkataswamy.
The body was eventually cremated in Panathur later in the evening, according to the report. The next formal step sought by residents is an on-site visit by officials and a decision on reserving or sanctioning land for a cremation ground.
