Posted on 10/11/2007 10:58:41 AM PDT by BGHater
A row has erupted over a plan to dig up a third of a million bodies from an historic east London cemetery to make way for a new Muslim burial site.
Tower Hamlets council in London is considering reopening the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park in Mile End to answer a long-running campaign for a Muslim graveyard in the area.
The park, off Bow Common Lane, was deconsecrated as a Church of England cemetery by Parliament in 1966, after being deemed full with about 350,000 bodies buried there.
It is not yet clear what the Council proposes to do with the remains, if they are ultimately removed from the graves and a new burial site built in their place.
Council sources have said the plans are not yet at a stage where this has been properly considered.
But already opponents to the proposal are lining up. They include the environmentalist and broadcaster, who is leading calls for the park to be kept as a wildlife haven.
The botanist, who is patron of a charity that acts as the guardian of the graveyard, said he will 'pray that the wisdom of all faiths' prevails in the decision over the cemetery's future.
The other options are to find land outside Tower Hamlets or redevelop the Bow Common gas works.
The Labour-controlled council had asked officers to find ways of opening a Muslim-only cemetery - but lawyers warned them that would be illegal.
The authority then examined the possibility of a multi-faith site, clearing existing graves to create a new cemetery with an area set aside for Muslim burials.
But now outraged East Enders have declared "there is no way we'll allow them to dig up our ancestors".
They have bombarded their local paper, the East London Advertiser, with protests against the plan to exhume 350,000 graves dating back to 1841, including those of the children of Dr Barnardo.
Religious leaders and politicians have also reacted angrily.
Tower Hamlets Tory group leader Peter Golds said no new cemetery had been opened in an inner city area for decades.
Cllr Golds insisted: "Of course, there must be respect for the recent dead and for those who mourn, but this proposal will cause untold damage to community cohesion in a borough that seriously wants for tranquil open space."
Labour's Poplar and Canning Town MP Jim Fitzpatrick said: "The cemetery is a very special piece of green space and I would personally want to examine very carefully any proposal to change that."
The Rev Alan Green, chair of the Tower Hamlets Inter-Faith Forum and dean for the borough, said the former Church of England graveyard was not an 'appropriate' place for a new cemetery.
Rev Green said: "The Church supports the move to ensure suitable future provision for the burial and cremation needs for all local residents.
"However, we do not believe that the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is an appropriate location due to the emotional, practical and ecological issues of removing thousands of bodies and destroying an important wildlife centre.
"Therefore, we hope that we can work with the council and other faith groups to find a more suitable alternative."
Even Respect group leader Abjol Miah, who has been at the forefront of calls for a Muslim cemetery, opposed the blueprint.
Mr Miah said: "The Bow cemetery is an historic site and a nature reserve and therefore appears not to be an appropriate place.
"However, there is an urgent need for new cemetery facilities for Tower Hamlets residents.
"The lack of such facilities affects everyone, and is pressing because many, including most Muslims, prefer to bury their loved ones."
But defending the plan, Labour's environment spokesman in Tower Hamlets, Abdal Ullah, said: "To preserve the respect and dignity for everyone, I think most of the graves would have to be cleared out and we'd start afresh."
He said a corner of the cemetery would be reserved for Muslims who are buried in shrouds at a depth of 6ft and on their side facing Mecca.
With the fast-changing demographics of Tower Hamlets, the cemetery would be pre-dominantly Muslim.
Re-opening the cemetery would require an Act of Parliament - involving widespread public consultation and scrutiny but by law, any graves more than 75 years old can be removed.
I know an old pig farm they can use...;-)
We’re winning the hot war and losing the cutural with the these pigs.
Well they are stained with the bodies of the monkey-pig sub-humans.
Cremate ‘em. Pig fat could be used as an accelerant.
This digging up of Christians so Muslims can buried—— This Will never happen
But just seeing it proposed shows how sick England is. Where is their pride in England and English heritage?
SICK SICK SICK-— Muslims are blood seeking sharks and they smell blood in the water here
This is suicide, not survival.
Or at least surviving might imply that there is some honorable battle going on. - But there is not.
The Muslims will get away with anything they want until they come up against soccer, pubs, gambling and homosexuals.
Only then will the Brits notice that they been taken over.
What exactly do they mean by “removed,” I wonder. I suspect that means the stone, any concrete liner, bits of casket (most liklely the hardware), etc. But I doubt it means relocating the remains elsewhere. If that were the case, why move them to a new location? Simply use that new location as the muslim cemetery. I know we in the states look at cemeteries as permanent resting places, that in Europe graves are good only for 25 years in some places. Still, dropping a muslim body on top of great-great-grandma’s bones would be more than most people could bear.
"Radical" islam is The Beast;
"Moderate" islam is the Trojan Horse.
Are prominent, articulate critics of radical Islam, entitled to the same free speech rights?
For those of us with English Heritage...we need to comment on that Article and show our support at what a shameful plan is being proposed...it shouldnt even be a thought...
I dont think Britain is done, I think they’re getting to the tipping point of wholesale action...
In twenty years from now, Europe will look back at President Bush as the Second Coming which they ignored, tarred, feathered, and laughed at, but they will no longer be laughing.
According to the article:
but by law, any graves more than 75 years old can be removed.
“Towers Hamlet council” introduced this. Look at who is on the council:
http://domino.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Web/CE_Members.nsf
I can pronounce 17 of the 51 names correctly...
Perhaps parliment should pass a “Native British Burial Sites Act” that parrots the Native American Burial site act we have here. That way no one could ever touch those grave sites.
For those who don’t know, that flier was created by anti-conservative muslims. It is an altered version of what they circulated on the campus (as it refers to islamo-fascism whereas the muslims said it was “conservo-fascists” or something like that).
Muslims are so arrogant that they will never assimilate into any modern civilized Christian community.
Can not assimilate folks who have 7 th century thinking with 21 th century ideals.
bttt
At some point we are all going to be forced to admit that western civilization does not deserve to survive.
A bold statement. You should yell it from the top of the Emerald-Green Empire State Building.
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