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Greece to allow Cremation
by Tito Singh
A decade of struggle finally paid off as law
makers in the Greek Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of a new law
which for the first time will allow people to be cremated rather than
buried.
Till now the Greek Orthodox Church was opposed to cremation,
describing it as a violation of the human body.
The arrangement refers to a Presidential Decree on determining places
for the creation of cremation centres with the consent of municipalities
and
communities.
Commenting on the law Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos said
that
"all guarantees will be provided so that freedom that is now being offered
will not become an object of exploitation."
The amendment's rapporteur, ruling New Democracy party Deputy Nikos
Georgiadis, pointed out that "cremation concerns people whose religious
beliefs permit it, as well as people who consciously choose to deviate
from
the traditional form of burial in Greece and the traditional order of the
Church."
The governing and main opposition parties all voted in favour of the
bill, which means the country's first crematoria can now be built.
Welcoming the Greek government steps to allow cremation, Dr. Bhaskar
Balakrishnan, Ambassador of India in Athens said, "This is a welcome
development especially for people from India of Hindu and Sikh faith,
since
it gives the option of cremation, which was earlier not possible in
Greece."
There was widespread approval and a sigh of relief in the Indian
community. Speaking to INEP on the phone, Maghar Gandhi, President of
"Greek-India Culture and Welfare Society", a legally registered
organisation, said, "We welcome the decision and it will take away the
financial, mental and psychological pressure from the relatives and
friends
of the dead person."
"We sincerely hope that the law will be implemented soon and
cremation
facilities created at the earliest." "At present it takes more than three
thousand Euros and a lot of formalities to send the body to India and more
than six thousand Euros if the body is taken to Bulgaria for cremation
which
is the nearest place for doing so," Gandhi added.
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