Community’s Search for a ‘Shanti Ghat’
Los Angeles/Feb 23, 2026
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/ A.Gary Singh
For a long time, our community has been trying to secure a suitable place along the Fraser River in the Metro Vancouver area where people could scatter the ashes of their loved ones. There have been a number of instances where the community’s hopes in this regard went up. Unfortunately, some of these claims proved to be false and nothing concrete materialized. Many people from our community have been taking the ashes to India to be immersed at certain designated places. In the Metro Vancouver area, some people have been renting boats etc.to disperse the ashes in the ocean. Recently, the government of India has made a rule that if anyone who wants to take the ashes of their loved ones to India, they need a clearance certificate from the Consulate General of India in Vancouver. At the same time, the airlines have also brought in some tough rules in this regard. Consequently, the community's demand for a suitable local place along the Fraser River has gained new momentum. In this regard, a meeting was held at Khalsa Diwan Society ,8000 Ross Street in Vancouver on Friday, February 20.
This community meeting included representatives from various Gurdwaras, Five Rivers Funeral Home Society, Hindu Mandirs and some prominent members of the community. It was very kind of our Attorney General and Deputy Premier Honorable Niki Sharma and Delta Mayor George Harvey to join us. Also, it was good to have Vancouver MLA Sunita Dhir and Delta Councilor Jessie Dosanjh at the meeting. Mayor Harvey and his council have been working on this issue for a while. He gave the attendees an update on the work done so far. Mayor Harvey mentioned that they have identified a suitable place along the Fraser River not very far from the Funeral Home that should serve our community well. Attorney General Niki Sharma endorsed this proposal and offered the province’s full support. This followed a brief discussion.
Some of the attendees including Funeral Home Society’s Board Chair Lehmber Rao, Gurdwara Brookside Surrey’ Public Relations spokesperson Surinder Singh Jabbal, Gurdwara Nanak Niwas, #5 Road Richmond’s Secretary Balwant Sanghera and some other members shared their input with the attendees. It was a very pleasant and cordial meeting. The organizers did an excellent job in keeping everything on track. Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver president Ranjit Singh Hayer thanked AG and Deputy Premier Niki Sharma, Mayor George Harvey, Sunita Dhir and all of the attendees for taking the time to attend. Everyone enjoyed the refreshments provided by the Gurdwara management. Hopefully, we will see some concrete action on this subject before long.
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