Anguish as Sri Lanka forces Muslims to cremate COVID-19 victims
The forced cremation of two COVID-19 infected Muslims in Sri Lanka has sent shock waves among the minority community, which accused the authorities of violating Islamic burial rites.
The forced cremation of two COVID-19 infected Muslims in Sri Lanka has sent shock waves among the minority community, which accused the authorities of violating Islamic burial rites.
Bishrul Hafi Mohammed Joonus, a 73-year- old man from the capital Colombo who died of COVID-19, was the second Muslim to have been cremated in the Indian Ocean island nation, which has registered 151 cases so far.
Bishrul’s son Fayaz Joonus, 46, said his father who had a kidney disorder tested positive for the virus on April 1 and died the same day. He was cremated the following day.
Fayaz said “The government needs to make arrangements for us Muslims to be able to bury our loved ones in accordance with our Islamic burial rites.”
“If there is an option of burial, our government should accommodate. Cremation is not the only option, we want to bury our loved ones as per the Islamic way,” he added.
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday issued COVID-19 guidelines saying the standard procedure of disposing bodies should be cremation. It reversed an earlier guideline that allowed traditional Muslim burial.
It also said the body should not be washed and placed in a sealed bag and a coffin, as against the Islamic practice of washing the body.
Muslim leaders and activists have pointed out that the World Health Organization (WHO) allows both burial or cremation for people dying due to the pandemic.
Prominent lawyer Ali Sabry said in a Facebook post that he was disappointed with authorities’ decision to cremate bodies of Muslims, as it was in disregard to the WHO guidelines, which say that a body can be either buried or cremated.
Out of the four people who died due to COVID-19, two were Muslims.
Amnesty International has also called on authorities to “respect the right of religious minorities to carry out the final rites” according to their own traditions.
