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AsianVoiceNewsweekly
28 Aug - 3 Sep 2021
“Living is more expensive than death,” says an Afghan Sikh in Britain Shefali Saxena “Unfortunately, as the situation is getting worse day by day, we are losing our history,” Karanjee Gaba, an Afghan Sikh who lives in the UK said. His family has been around Afghanistan for more than 100 years. In an exclusive interview with Asian Voice, Gaba told us why it is imperative to know about Afghan Sikhs. Sharing his sentiment about the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan as an Afghan Sikh in Britain, Gaba said, “I feel very lost and heartbroken. My father used to tell me about his experience in Afghanistan, as it is a beautiful country that involves food, lifestyle and fashion. During his time, they used to visit the mountains and picnic near the flowing rivers. Each family used to have minimal food but they were happy. Right now things are misplaced and it isn’t really helping anyone. Living is more expensive than death. “My parents have become anxious and feel fearful that history again is repeating itself. The land is moving back to what it was, after a long war the results have yet been the same. Hoping that the situation will stabilise and one day the pace will come.” Gaba added, “We have nothing back home (Afghanistan) anymore. Everything we had has been lost and probably destroyed or occupied by someone.” Helping us learn more about the cultural differences and similarities between Sikhs from Asia and Afghan Sikhs, he said, “Our culture is different in terms of Asian is by our
food, our songs and our sense of style. Religiously, we follow and do the same rituals and ceremonies. In terms of culture, we are different.” Speaking about some of his early memories of learning about his heritage from parents and family, Gaba told the newsweekly, “I was lost. I never knew anything about my culture and every day I am expanding my knowledge about back home. I made a film called Hindko, which is available on YouTube in back 2019. The film is about the Sikh language Hindko and Culture exploration. Many Sikhs didn’t know including my family that Afghan Sikhs speak Hindko, it also explains the culture and differences between Afghan and Asian Sikhs.” People don’t know the history Commenting on the lack of awareness about Afghan Sikhs and what can be done to increase knowledge among the community, Gaba said, “Many people in the community don’t know history themselves due to the fact many have left their homes, flee to another country or even the history has been destroyed. I think media is the most powerful tool and we need to make more films/videos for people to learn about Afghanistan and involve youth in it.” But how has moving to Britain changed the life of his family? “Moving to London has given the chance for many afghans to educate. I was freely able to walk in a city and Not being judged for my appearance. It made me feel safe, until some racists men tried to tell us to back
Karanjee Gaba to our country. As safe as Britain is, it still has some elements of racism that we cannot control. Other than that, I now have become
one of the first Afghan Sikh models. A journey that is allowing me to speak on the behalf of Afghan Sikhs and I am able to shine a light on Afghan Sikhs,” Gaba explained. Is he more British than Afghan now? “To begin with, I was more closer to British Culture but during my journey, I wanted to explore more about my identity. As an Afghan, I then went to speak with the elderly about our community and from there I have become more attached to our culture as we need to carry on the legacy. We need to keep it for the future and may it never be forgotten. We cannot lose our history because if we do, it’ll mean we have lost our identity,” he told Asian Voice.
NHS doctor claims high-speed blender turns bones into ashes during cremation NHS doctor, Dr Karan, Rajan, went viral on social media last week after debunking the medical myths, including what cremated ashes are really made of. Dr Karan Rajan, who posts on TikTok said, "Basically a highspeed blender that processes bones to look like ashes." His video had over 698,000 times and over 64,000 likes. It left many people disturbed by this morbid topic. The story was first reported by The Daily Star where the doctor explained in a video that incinerating a human body doesn't turn it into ashes like wood when it is burned. Commenting on this story, Rajnish Kashyap, General Secretary/Director, Hindu Council UK (HCUK) told Asian Voice, "For Hindus, the Ashes are what remained after the cremation of the body. The ashes are called asthī (bones of the deceased). Hindus respectfully call these ashes Phool (flowers) to express respect and devotion to the departed soul. The asthi need to go into running water (the sea is permissible). This is to allow the spirit a smoother tradition to the next life. Scattering asthies in the river after the cre-
mation is an important part of the rituals in the Hindu religion – this symbolizes the cycle of life. Water is associated with purity and purification. By immersing the asthies, the relatives are helping the dead person to purify sins. If Dr Karan Raj’s comments that the asthies after cremation are then crushed and blended to make ashes are correct then for Hindus it is against their rituals and totally unethical even to think about it.” Harsha Shukla MBE, Vice President, North of Hindu Forum of Britain consulted the Lancaster crematorium to share her perspective on this subject. She told Asian Voice that the crematorium uses the deceased body and the coffin in the furnace. But before that, all the nails and screws get removed with the help of a magnet. The furnace decides how much time it takes to cremate bodies of different sizes. “Everything (the remains after cremation) goes back to the family. In India, we might have small bones left but in the UK, everything turns into ashes. We turn our bodies into Panch-Mahabhoot. So, what we get from nature, is returned to nature to maintain a balance,” she told the newsweekly.
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