Human ash washing up on popular Fiji beach

Hindustan Times ^ | 2/17/2003 | Agence France-Presse

[TheConservator]

Cremated human remains are washing up on a popular Fiji beach, enraging local residents, a report said on Monday.

Settlement caretaker Lesi Colati said cremated remains could easily be collected at low tide, prompting Suva's beachside residents to raise concerns about traditional Hindu funerals, according to the Fiji Times.

A former Ports Authority marine officer, Colati said residents were shocked and disturbed after human ash was discovered inside sea shells collected for family meals by women in the area.

"These religious rituals pose a threat to the marine ecosystem especially when they dispose off human ashes in the sea," he said.

Colati said he had collected more than two buckets of human bones, teeth, body-wrappings and handles of coffins from the area recently.

"This year I have already buried two buckets and have another collection with me," he said.

Even the seashells on the beach, on the Laucala Bay or eastern side of the capital, had a foul odour.

"The mussels that we collect smell very bad and when we open them, we find ashes."

He said that a similar discovery made by a family lately prompted the villagers to resort to other fishing grounds.

"We have been living in this settlement for years and the families depend on the sea for a living but now we have been forced to choose other fishing sites," he said.

Around 44 per cent of Fiji's 820,000 people are ethnic Indians, the majority of them Hindu.

[TheConservator]

Now this is disgusting! Muscles in the mussels?

[chnsmok]

ping?

[dware]

"The mussels that we collect smell very bad and when we open them, we find ashes."

awwww....AWWWWWW...noooooo...awwwww...dadgummit

blech!

Was that a pearl? Oh, no...it's just a TOOTH!

[Brian Allen]

More Institutionalized-rascism troubles in store for a large percentage of Fiji's -Fijians?

[zygoat]

That is so sick, I love it! A little Hindu on the halfshell for Hadji!

[snopercod]

ASH ALERT!!!

[ChemistCat]

My goodness. How much ash would they have to dump for this to be a noticeable problem?

[rintense]

I was gonna say... how can they tell if it's human ash? Sheesh. I had my dog cremtated and the ashes looked like vaccuum dust.

[JSteff]

The thing is, it may have been.

[rintense]

????

[P.O.E.]

"Guess who's coming for dinner?"

[mhking]

Parts is parts...

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!

[mhking]

Parts is parts...

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!

[Tijeras_Slim]

ASH ALERT!!!

If you've been here long enough to laugh at this, you're not a newbie anymore.... LOL!

[par4]

I may be mistaken, but I believe that the Hindi in that area don't cremate their dead like we do here - meaning that they don't have access to high temperature gas furnaces. Instead, they just make a big pile of firewood and light it up. Some sects even put the pyre on a raft and float it down the river (or out to sea).

My uncle was in the China Burma India theatre during WW2 and I have some photos taken by him of Hindu funerals. He labeled them rare, medium and well done - after which the remains were dumped into the river. All in all, a grisley way to dispose of your loved ones, but ancient traditions die hard...

[snopercod]

Ahhh.....those were the days.... quidam, Ashe, Eschoir, A+Bert...

[cyberaxe]

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!"

.....phunny you should say that.....

.....was in Fiji bout 15 years ago.....

.....Coke was $5 and.....

.....the local Fiji Beer was $1.....

.....a good time was had by all!.....lol

.....the native folk were the nicest people in the world.....

.....the other half of the population was.....

.....well.....

.....BULA!.....

[kAcknor]

ASH ALERT!!!

kAcknor Sez:

Now THAT brings back memories. Is FR old enough to have a "Good 'Ol Days" yet? ;)

"bImejDI' reH betleHlIj yItlhap" (Never leave home without your bat'telh.)

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