Reply to "THE MAGIC OF MADHUBALA"

Quite unceremoniously, the tombs of actress Madhubala, playback singer Mohammed Rafi, music composer Naushad and poet Sahir Ludhianvi have been demolished without the consent of their relatives, in order to make space for new corpses. The ground was leveled by filling in truckloads of soil three-feet high to create another layer of graves. 

The Muslim burial ground located opposite Juhu Garden is a historical site of sorts, given that artistes like Rafi, Madhubala, Naseem Bano, Ludhianvi, Naushad, Ali Sardar Jafri, Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Talat Mahmood and Parveen Babi are, or were, interred there.

The process began five years ago, but was brought to the attention of the Economic Times, following the latest celebrity burial of Aamir Khan’s father Tahir Hussain on February 3 whose fresh grave is on the new second tier. 

Already Mumbai's graves are starting to sound like parking lots.

"Once a corpse enters these gates it becomes our property," Asgar Ali, president of the Muslim Majlis, which manages the burial ground said, defending the trust's actions as within Islamic law. "Moreover, there is an acute shortage of space since the Muslim population in the area is expanding and everyone wants to be buried in our graveyard given how clean and high-profile it is."

Trust secretary Qayyum Khan adds, "Every Muslim is equal before God; no concessions can be made for artistes and celebrities. We are forced to turn over the graves each year due to shortage of space."