NHRC, India Upholds Dignity in Death—Cognizance of Kalbelia Burial Ground Protest Taken
(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)
In a stark manifestation of systemic neglect bordering on discrimination, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India, has exercised its Suo motu jurisdiction on January 29, 2026, pursuant to a distressing media report detailing the Kalbelia community’s agitation in Barmer district, Rajasthan. On December 29, 2025, members of this Scheduled Tribe—adherents of the Nath tradition, which mandates burial rites over cremation—were compelled to stage a macabre protest by laying a deceased kin’s body on a public road, underscoring the administration’s glaring failure to allocate any dedicated burial ground for their community.
Unlike other communities, which enjoy access to designated cremation grounds or graveyards as a fundamental civic entitlement, the Kalbelias confront an inexplicable void in such facilities, raising serious questions of equality under Article 14 of the Constitution of India and potential violations of their cultural and religious rights enshrined in Article 25.
This omission not only exacerbates the indignity suffered by the bereaved but also impinges on the right to dignified disposal of human remains, a facet of the broader right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.
Prompting judicial scrutiny, the NHRC has issued a formal notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan, directing the submission of a comprehensive report within two weeks.
The commission seeks detailed particulars on the incident, steps taken to address the community’s longstanding grievance, and measures to ensure equitable allocation of burial spaces, thereby affirming its mandate to safeguard marginalized voices against administrative apathy.
The Commission has taken note of the contents of the news report and has observed that, if the allegations contained therein are found to be true, they disclose grave and serious issues amounting to violations of human rights.
In view of the seriousness of the matter, the Commission has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan, calling upon the State to submit a comprehensive and detailed report on the issue within a period of two weeks.
The Commission has further emphasised that it is the constitutional and statutory obligation of the State to ensure the preservation of human dignity and the protection of the rights of the dead.
In this regard, the Commission has recalled that, as early as May 2021, it had issued a detailed advisory to all States and Union Territories underscoring the necessity of upholding the dignity of the deceased and safeguarding their rights in accordance with law.
As per the media report dated 30 December 2025, members of the Kalbelia community, while mourning the loss of their loved ones, are compelled to bury the dead-on private lands owing to the absence of designated burial grounds.
This practice, born out of systemic neglect, allegedly exposes the bereaved families to resistance, verbal abuse, and, in several instances, forcible eviction, thereby compounding their suffering and raising serious concerns regarding discrimination and denial of basic human rights.
