Road construction forces removal of gravestones in Hakha

17 July 2015 — Dozens of families in Hakha are forced to transfer their relatives’ tombstones following a new road construction which will run across the cemetery.

At least 60 families have already moved the remains of the dead bodies and their tombstones to a new cemetery for fear that the authorities would destroy them.

Families said that they had started transferring as they had realized that the government-run road construction would pass through the cemetery and that they would be demolished without their knowledge.

A resident in Dawrthar ward said in the Hakha Post that the authorities had said the road would not go through the cemetery but the road had been constructed very close to the tombstones, adding: “We were worried that they would be destroyed.”

Ral Kham, a leader of the town elders, said that they had announced residents would be informed whether the tombstones needed to be removed or not, but that people had started on their own initiative.

Pa Thang, a resident in Thantlang, about 20 miles from Hakha, said that people had had to move tombstones because of new projects, without receiving any support from the government.

According to sources, there are about 200 tombstones in the current Hakha cemetery.#