After winning right to cremation in the open,NRI fights for minorities in Pak

The 71-year-old NRI hit the headlines in February 2010 after winning a four-year legal battle against the British government on behalf of Hindus and Sikhs wishing to be cremated at ‘shamshaan ghats’ — the traditional open-air cremation grounds.“It was the most publicised religious freedom campaign. We also won a similar campaign for open-pyre cremations in Pakistan. We now want that Pakistan should work on protecting the minorities in a more transparent way,” he said,adding that he had received support from both the Shiormani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Durgiana Mandir management on this.

Ghai is currently in negotiations with the Newcastle City Council to establish Britain’s first cremation ground as a non-profit enterprise offering free cremations to widows and NRIs without family in Britain.