Sri Lanka cremates corona victims, fears of terrorist response

Shaimaa Yahya

When the Covid-19 corona virus swept through the world in a short period of time and killed thousands of people, countries intensified efforts to contain the pandemic, taking serious precautions to deal with the virus and limit its spread.

The virus has caused many victims, as the number of people infected around the world exceeds 1.19 million, more than 64,000 of whom have died, while more than 246,000 have recovered, according to the Worldometer website.

Many countries have differed in their methods of burying those who have died from this pandemic. There have been fears that these bodies would become a ticking virus time bomb even after death. But some countries have taken means that do not preserve the human rights of humans, including in Sri Lanka, where the dead bodies of corona victims are being cremated, with claims that this would successfully eliminate the pandemic.

But this is not appropriate in Islamic law, which requires burying the dead according to legal provisions on religious grounds that adhere to the health and safety conditions and standards previously set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Sri Lankan authorities have overlooked these standards and burned four dead bodies, including two Muslims. The first body was cremated without having a funeral prayer read over him, which infuriated the country’s Muslims, who rejected this behavior for not observing their religious rights and acting contrary to human values. This in turn allowed for the funeral prayer to be held for the other Muslim before cremating his body.

Amnesty International expressed its dissatisfaction with the decision of the Sri Lankan government and urged it to allow the children of religious minorities in the country to carry out their last duty towards their dead in accordance with their religious beliefs and rites.

The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), a non-governmental organization representing Muslim scholars in Sri Lanka, said in a statement that it rejects the authorities cremating the dead bodies without distinction between their religions, which is an improper decision, as there is no evidence that the bodies carry the virus or that diseases can live for a long time in the human body after death, according to WHO.

The Brotherhood also attacked this behavior, explaining in a statement that there is no medical or scientific justification for the Sri Lankan authorities to cremate the bodies, demanding that this measure be stopped in accordance with international covenants guaranteeing the religious rights of citizens, which includes the right of a Muslim to be buried in accordance with the provisions of Islamic law, especially since the Sri Lankan constitution provides for freedom of belief.

But it is possible that such actions in one way or another generate forms of extremism, and as a result, terrorist groups exploit them to their advantage in order to attract new elements to carry out more terrorist operations and other forms of extremism.

Brotherhood’s unknown fate

Hesham al-Najjar, a researcher specializing in Islamic movements, told the Reference that there is no doubt that the Brotherhood is concerned in light of the crises it faces and its fear of an unknown fate, given the turmoil in Turkey, as Erdogan’s regime and its future are at stake. The group is therefore looking for new incubators to house its members and leaders as a future alternative if the Erdogan regime collapses. In this context, it is using tactics of courting the feelings of religious militants around the world and playing on religious sentiments to create terrorist sanctuaries and incubators for them under the pretense of defending Muslim issues and rights.

Various measures

In other countries, similar measures have been taken to dispose of corpses. In Italy, where there has been a high rate of corona infections, the government transferred bodies to neighboring provinces after burials workers became overloaded, and the local authorities requested that bodies be cremated in order to avoid overcrowding.

China tended to cremate the bodies of corona victims, and the Chinese authorities have directed this to be near the place of their deaths. It also banned funeral traditions and ceremonies, according to Chinese media.

In Iran, the Ministry of Health refrained from handing those who died from the virus to their relatives, and it instead performed the washing and burial procedures. A number of medical crews buried the corpses wrapped in a plastic cover in a hole deeper than ordinary graves without the presence of any of the victims’ relatives, which raised panic among the public.