Hindus should be allowed to cremate their deceased on traditional open pyres in Malta until a proper crematorium was built and available for usage, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, said on Sunday.
 
In a statement, he said that although a new law allowing cremation was passed by Maltese Parliament in May, a functioning crematorium was nowhere in sight and it might be 2023 when a working crematorium would be available to the public for the cremation of their loved ones.
 
Mr Zed, who is the president of Universal Society of Hinduism, said Malta should, in the meantime, allot a cremation ground near a body of water where Hindus could cremate their deceased on open pyres.
 
Malta, not having the mechanism for the cremation of deceased Hindus, was forcing the community to bury their loved ones in contradiction of their long-held beliefs that burial hindered a soul’s journey, he stressed. 
 
Mr Zed said that Malta should show some maturity and be more responsive to the hurt feelings of its hard-working, harmonious and peaceful Hindu community; which had been in the country since the 1800s and had made lot of contributions to the nation and society, and continued to do so.
 
He also said that as a dominating majority in Malta, Catholics also had a moral responsibility to take care of minority brothers and sisters from different faith backgrounds, and should seek equality treatment for all. Equality was the fundamental tenet of the Judeo-Christian faith, of which Catholicism was a significant part, he pointed out.