Commentary by Mustafa K. Anuar

GRAVES are more than just final resting places of our loved ones and other mortals. 

They connect us to our past and our departed. Also, they provide a platform for us to express our undying remembrance of and love for the deceased.

In other words, cemeteries have a deep historical connection to the local community as they help residents understand their past and provide insights into how people within the area used to live. In some cases, parts of the history are etched on the headstones.

For minorities in a diverse society like ours, their cemeteries are especially important as they provide a collective memory of their past, cultural identities and a sense of belonging.

Their cemeteries are considered precious because quite often their histories risk being ignored, distorted, faded or, worse, trampled upon by the mighty and arrogant. 

In other parts of the world, Muslim and Jewish minorities, for instance, have witnessed their cemeteries being subjected to vandalism and desecration. 

That is why any attempt by an outsider to demolish a communal cemetery is vehemently resisted by the community concerned as desecration is rightly deemed sacrilegious and abhorrent. This is especially so when a plot of land has been designated and used as a cemetery for a very long time.

A case in point is the cemetery, more than 60 years’ old, of a Hindu community in Taman Peruda in Sg Petani, Kedah that faces the prospects of being destroyed for the purpose of so-called development. Thirty-three people were buried in this plot.

In January this year, UDA Ventures, through its subsidiary, sent notices to the nearby residents that it was taking vacant possession of the land.

The residents were hoping to build a memorial in remembrance of the United Patani estate workers who were buried there.

Their attempt to seek help from Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to preserve the land has so far reportedly come to naught, fuelling suspicion that this issue would be the latest of actions that the Kedah government had taken that frustrated the Indian community in the state.

Sanusi had recently cancelled Thaipusam as a public holiday in Kedah, while Hindu temples were demolished not too long ago.

Similarly, the graves of Orang Asli that are located on their ancestral lands are no less important and sacred for they have long histories treasured by succeeding generations.

To destroy their graves, as outsiders such as loggers and developers often do, is to wipe out their cherished heritage and deface their dignity as a people. In other words, what has been desecrated is more than just broken bones.

That is why, for example, the Orang Asli in Ulu Geruntum, Gopeng are up in arms recently against the encroachment of their ancestral land where it is said that they’ve been living on for more than 100 years.

It was reported that a project is in the pipeline to develop the area where the ancestral land serves the Orang Asli as a rich source of livelihoods and is part of their culture. It is also where their ancestors were buried. 

Although they are known to have lived in the area all this while, and yet they were not consulted regarding the plan to develop the land in the vicinity as if they are not worthy of such engagement.

For some of us, cemeteries are also a grave reminder of how brief and transient our life can be. A fact that seems to escape the notice of the powerful, wealthy, arrogant and deceitful. – May 6, 2021.