Corona Virus: Accused of forced cremation of Muslims in Sri Lanka

The Muslim community of Sri Lanka has accused the administration of discriminating against them under the cover of the Corona virus epidemic.

He says that in the case of deaths due to Kovid-19, the administration is forcibly cremating the dead bodies, whereas in Islam it is forbidden. In Islam, the deceased is buried.

On 04 May, 44-year-old Fatima Rinoza was admitted to the hospital under the supervision of Kovid-19 infection.

Fatima is a mother of three children and lives in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. He was facing difficulty in taking the mother-in-law and the administration was doubtful that he might get corona virus infection.

Fatima’s husband Mohammad Shafiq says that from the day Fatima was admitted to the hospital, the administration had taken her family into her own control.

He says, “Police officers and military officers have reached our house.”

“They kicked us out of our house and sprayed disinfectants all over the house, everywhere. We were quite scared earlier but they also did not tell us anything. A three-month-old girl in our house was also tested corona. They brought us out of the house like a dog and brought them to the Quarantine Center. “

Fatima’s family was held up all night at the Quarantine Center and released on the second day. He was told that he should be in isolation after two weeks.

But by now the family had received news from the hospital that Fatima had died.

Documents signed forcibly

Fatima’s older son was asked to come to the hospital so that he could identify his mother. He was told that Fatima died due to Kovid-19, due to which his body cannot be returned to the family.

Fatima’s sons say that the administration had them forcibly sign some documents stating that Fatima’s body would not be buried but cremated. They say that under Islamic law, the deceased is buried, cremating him is not considered right with his body.

Mohammad Shafiq alleges that the family was not informed about what happened in the hospital. He says, “My son was told that parts of Fatima’s body would be separated for further testing. If Fatima was corona positive, why would she want her body parts?”

Now Fatima’s family is one of the many Sri Lankan families who are accusing the government of discriminating against them under the cover of the Corona epidemic.

World Health Organization Guidelines

These families say that the administration is pressurizing them to cremate the families of those who died of Kovid-19 while the corona positive body can be buried according to the guidelines of the World Health Organization.

They allege that this has created a new pattern of investigating and then scaring them by the majority Sinhala population.

In April 2019, some local groups associated with Islamic extremists targeted suicide bombings at well-known hotels and churches in Colombo. 250 people died in these blasts, including many foreigners.

The responsibility of these attacks was taken by the alleged Islamic extremist group Islamic State, which was shocking for Sri Lanka. Many Muslims feel that they have been seen as enemies since these suicide attacks.

Can there be a risk in burying a dead body?

On March 31, the first Muslim person died due to Corona virus in Sri Lanka. Since then, many media reports have openly blamed Muslims for spreading the disease. However officially till date a total of 11 people have died due to corona in the country and all the dead have been cremated.

Dr. Sugata Samaraweera, Chief Epidemiologist in the Sri Lankan government, says that it is the policy of the government for the corona epidemic that if someone dies from Kovid-19 or if the death of the corona gets infected then in such cases the dead body Is lit. This is because there is a risk of contamination of ground water from burial.

Dr. Samaraweera says that this policy has been adopted by the clinical experts in the Ministry of Health “for the betterment of society”.

But Muslim activists, community leaders and politicians have asked the government to consider its decision once again.

“The only country to burn dead bodies”

Former minister and candidate for the upcoming general elections, Ali Zahir Maulana, has filed a petition in the court stating that Sri Lanka is the only country among the 182 member countries of the World Health Organization to be cremated for those who died of Kovid-19.

Maulana told the BBC that “If there is any evidence or scientific basis that burying the deceased of Kovid-19 causes damage to public health” then the country’s Muslim community will accept the government’s decision.

Senior leaders of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress also agree with his statement. He says that it is clear that there is no evidence in favour of cremation nor health related reasons, the government has taken this decision to divide the country on the basis of race under the “political agenda”.

Different rules for different people

64-year-old Abdul Hameed Mohammed in Colombo the day Fatima died Rafaidin died at his sister’s house.

Rafaidin, the father of four children, worked as a laborer and he was also having trouble breathing.

His youngest son Naushad Rafaidin says that the same day another person died in his neighbourhood that was of the majority Sinhala religion.

Naushad says that at that time there was a lockdown in the country due to corona and there was a ban on coming anywhere. The local police told his family to take the bodies of his father and his neighbour to the hospital.

Describing Kovid-19a as a threat in the mortuary of the hospital, the doctors did not allow him to touch the body of his father. However, till now it was not clear that his father died from Kovid-19.

Fear of discrimination in society

Naushad does not know how to read. He was told that he had to sign some documents so that the administration could cremate his father with his permission.

Naushad says that he did not know what would happen to him if he refused to do so, but he feared that if he refused to sign, his family might face discrimination in the community. However, he says that his neighbour was treated differently.

He says, “When he arrived at the hospital with the corpse of the neighbour, he was allowed to go to him there and he was allowed to bury him.”

He says that his neighbour’s relatives were also allowed to have the last darshan of the deceased, while only he and some of his relatives could remain present during the cremation of his father.

Meanwhile, six weeks have passed since Fatima’s death and Shafiq is learning to live with his memories.

Doctors monitoring Corona virus testing cases have said

Fatima’s corona test did not come positive, while the hospital had the strength to be positive. After this information, Fatima’s family is still more confused.

Shafiq says, “We Muslims do not cremate those who die. If they knew that Fatima did not have a corona, then why did they cremate her?”