Hyderabad: Mobile vehicles for final journey 'must'

Nampally: With urban areas hard-pressed for space, the need for mobile Ghusl Khana (ablution vehicles) is growing. Some of the organisations like Sufi Ulema Council have been urging the Telangana Wakf Board to provide ablution vehicles which can enable them to perform final rites, including giving a ghusal (last bath) to the dead and taking them to the graveyard.

Muslims in urban centres like Hyderabad are living in rented houses or apartments following which they are struggling to perform Ghusal which is one of the important rituals before the burial.

Even though the Council representatives brought the issue to the notice of the Wakf Board several times, the matter remains in cold storage. The Council on Monday successfully represented the same to the Wakf Board authorities.

"For last two years, we have been demanding for Mobile Ghusl Khana and vehicles to transfer dead bodies to graveyards and perform rituals, but it is very regrettable that the Wakf Board has not fulfilled the demands yet," said Hakeem Sufi Syed Mohammed Shah Quadri, president of Sufi Ulema Council.

He asserted that instead of spending on important projects, the Board is utilising funds on low-priority areas. "The Board approved Rs 36 lakh for task force vehicles just to preserve its pride. Whereas they have not provided the community it is made for with a single vehicle. If the Wakf Board allots the Mobile Ghusl Khana, it will be of great help for the community," he said.