Sweden embarks on sober search for more cemetery space in case of war
Gothenburg, Dec 29: Burial associations in Sweden are looking to acquire enough land for something they hope they’ll never have to do: bury thousands of people in the event of war.
The search follows recommendations from the Church of Sweden’s national secretariat, which reflect crisis preparedness guidelines from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) and the Swedish Armed Forces.
The preparedness guidelines have been put in a new light by Sweden’s decision to join NATO and tensions with Russia in the Baltic Sea region.
According to the Church of Sweden provisions, supported by legal paragraphs in Sweden’s Burial Act, burial associations are responsible for ensuring the availability of enough land to bury roughly 5 per cent of the population within a parish, if needed.
The Goteborg Burial Association, which operates in Sweden’s second-largest city, is currently trying to navigate the challenge of acquiring at least 10 acres of land to ensure it can handle urgent casket burials for some 30,000 dead in case of war. That is in addition to another 15 acres of land needed for building graveyards for regular use in Goteborg.
“The (recommendations) mean that we need more land for burial grounds and this is a phenomenon in the big cities, and a problem in the big cities, where land resources are scarce to begin with and not always sufficient to meet burial ground needs even in times of calm and peace,” said Katarina Evenseth, senior advisor at the Goteborg Burial Association.
Together with the local municipality, which has a monopoly in making decisions about land usage in Goteborg, the burial association has identified a vast area appropriate for building a large-scale cemetery for the intended purpose. But a lengthy approval and building process means it could take approximately 10 years to complete, posing further challenges in uncertain times.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) continues to stress the importance of crisis preparedness and highlights the efforts of the Church of Sweden. (AP)
Singapore Sikhs celebrate history at religious-cultural mela
Singapore, Dec 29: Over 10,000 Sikhs gathered in Singapore on Sunday to promote community, understanding, and harmony, marking the conclusion of Naam Ras, a four-day religious and cultural fair.
Singapore’s Law and Home Minister K Shanmugam and Zaqy bin Mohamad, a senior minister of state for Manpower and Defence, attended the festivities. They also welcomed interfaith groups representing non-Sikhs to the biennial gala ‘mela’ which ran from December 26 to 29.
The ministers were honoured with the traditional Sikh Saropas (scarves).
Malminderjit Singh, Chairman of the Sikh Advisory Board here said the Naam Ras Kirtan Darbar is a ground-up event designed to foster community, understanding, and harmony.
He added that the event was organised by the Singapore Sikh community, along with support from well-wishers, donors, and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) of Singapore.
Overall, more than 50,000 Singapore Sikhs attended the four-day carnival-style festival, showcasing the community’s deep cultural links to its ancestral homeland in Punjab and northern India.
Minister Shanmugam congratulated the Sikh organisations, led by gurdwaras and social services units here, for organising the event.
“Events like this build greater bonds in the community,” he said, noting the gathering of people from all over the region at the event.
“It is one of the largest Sikh gatherings outside of India,” said Professor Nirmal Singh Randhawa who hails from Amritsar and has been part of the biennial event since the beginning as a lead advisor and preacher of Sikh cultures.
Sikhs from the UK, the US, Australia, New Zealand and the Southeast Asian countries, where the community has flourished over a century but maintained close relations with their ancestor homes, attended the event.
Volunteers, including migrant workers from northern India, ran the show that showcased the lifestyle of Sikhs, a flourishing but minority community of 12,000 in the prosperous city-state. (PTI)