We did NOT ask for gypsy grave to be exhumed, claim Muslim family
THE family of a Muslim man buried alongside gypsy great-grandfather Shadrack Smith say they NEVER asked the council to exhume his body because he is a "non-believer."
Published: 13:45, Fri, February 13, 2015 By Rebecca Perring Rebecca Perring
SWNS
Shadrack Smith Muzzaffar Khan's relatives have spoken out after it was alleged that they had made a "strongly worded and vociferous" complaint to the council about Mr Khan being buried next to Shadrack ‘Shady’ Smith, 89, a popular figure in the Romany gypsy community. Mr Smith's family, which includes eight children, 25 grandchildren and 40 great grandchildren, had vowed to fight “tooth and nail” to ensure his body was not moved from Burbage Cemetery in Burbage, Leicestershire.
But the family of Mr Khan, former assistant vice-president of United Bank in London, said requests for a exhumation were "totally untrue" and both families had been "very let down" by Burbage Parish Council. Mr Khan's nephew's wife Sophie Ahmad said: "There has never been a time when we have asked for the person's body to be exhumed. It is totally and utterly untrue.
"It is not forbidden for Muslims to be buried next to people who are not but it is not usual practice."
The 66-year-old added: "We never asked for Mr Smith to be exhumed. Two wrongs are not going to make a right."
SWNS
Sean Smith, 47, is pictured with his wife Tracey, 46, at Burbage CemeteryMrs Ahmad says the family chose Mr Khan's grave after requesting a Muslim burial plot from the local council three years before he was buried in October. They were then shocked to discover, during a visit to his graveyard last month, that a new grave next to his was being created for Mr Smith.
Mrs Ahmad said: "We were unaware someone not of the Muslim faith could also be buried there because of what they had said. " The family then alerted the council to the conversation from 2011, in which they apparently allocated the area as a Muslim burial place and asked them to take action prior to Mr Smith's funeral.
Mr Smith died from pneumonia on January 13 after breaking his hip on New Year’s Eve. His family paid £2,500 for three plots at the multi-faith, unconsecrated, cemetery. But they say four days before his funeral, which was attended by more than 400 people, the council initially asked them to consider moving his body. At the time, his daughter-in-law Tracey Smith, 46, said: “ We have not been able to grieve because of all this drama, and it’s been awful. This whole thing has devastated our family."
But Mrs Ahmad said it had "all been blown out of proportion." She said: "We have no problem with Mr Smith, it is the council giving us the perception that we had been given this area when in actual fact they hadn't. We feel very let down."
The local council met on Tuesday night to discuss the segregation issue but stressed that at no stage were the family asked to move their loved one.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/558014/gypsy-grandad-buried-next-to-Muslim-grave-creates-family-war
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