Muslim who die as victims of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka are being cremated by force.
In April 2020, Sri Lanka government announced a new policy requiring all people who die of Covid-19 to be cremated.
According to the Islamic practice and rituals of burying the death, this is desecration of the dead.
Islamic tradition strictly prohibits cremation. The dead people are honored through burial with their heads facing Mecca.
There are suspicions that the policy is towards discriminating the Muslim minority population in the majority Buddhist Sri Lanka.
It should be noted that cremation is a standard practice in the religion of Buddhism.
Muslims in Sri Lanka have been facing a lot of discrimination and harassment for many years. There is a widespread Islamophobia, 2018 anti-Muslim riots and banning of face coverings in public.
Elsewhere, cremation is prohibited under the Jewish traditions. Christians too prefer burying their dead as opposed to cremation.
The Muslims have an elaborate burial procedure which involves washing the dead body with soapy water, clean water and then camphor-infused water. Secondly, a communal prayer is performed for the deceased. Finally, the body is buried by laying it directly on the earth without a coffin.
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