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Deplorable demolitions

I read with a heavy heart M. L. Dhawan’s ‘Grave matter’ (Spectrum, March 28). The unceremonious demolition of the graves of cinema legends is deplorable. It speaks a lot of the insensitivity, callousness and lack of vision exhibited by the trust of Juhu cemetery. The trust appears not to have applied its mind to mitigate the problem and instead chose the repugnant way of demolition.

All sensitive persons feel nothing but contempt for the trust, which bulldozed the graves of the legends. More so, the unsavoury behaviour of the trustees with respect to the disposal of the mortal remains shows utter contempt.

There has been no dearth of space for building monuments and installing statues of the political leaders in our country, but there’s no space for the graves and mortal remains of those who once were the epitome of creativity in their lifetime. What an insult being heaped on them!

The trust may have a lot of explaining to do for its failure to adopt a consensual approach and instead of demolishing the graves downright. Instead of raising memorials, the trust opted to desecrate the graves and raised questions about their ability to manage such places. It is the moral imperative, as suggested by veteran actor Dilip Kumar, of the civic bodies to allot the trust more land for the cemeteries. Otherwise, they will earn the wrath of poetry and music lovers in India and abroad.

Dr Soshil Rattan, Amritsar

JAGVINDER SINGH BRAR, Patiala