Henan city refuses to stop clearance of graves to make farmland
Zhoukou officials say clearance of families' tombs to establish farmland will continue even though State Council takes stance against the practice
A city in central Henan province says it will push ahead with grave demolitions after the levelling of millions of tombs sparked outrage.
Two million tombs in Zhoukou, one of the oldest cities on the mainland, have been removed over the past few months under a new provincial government policy to make more land available for agriculture.
A spokesman from the city's civil affairs bureau, which is in charge of the grave demolitions, said the city government had no intention of halting the campaign, even though the State Council last Friday struck out a clause from regulations that allowed for forced demolition of grave sites.
"We are still clearing graves for farmland and we will definitely continue doing that," he said. The spokesman said the State Council announcement only meant the civil affairs bureau had no right to carry out compulsory demolitions. "The courts and the police bureau will instead take responsibility for execution," he said.
The revised version of the funeral and interment control regulation removed a sentence in Article 20 that allowed for forced demolitions.
The amendment, which will come into effect next year, came after an online petition campaign by a group of scholars and thousands of people from Henan.