SHAFAQNA- Christian, Hindu and Muslim volunteers in India helped to cremate COVID-19 victims. They have calmly staged dozens of funerals each day of resurgent coronavirus crisis.
The arrival of bodies at cremation and burial grounds has been unrelenting in recent weeks and teams work long hours under the summer heat, sometimes in full protective gear to reduce their exposure to the virus. The volunteers from different faiths are willing to take on the emotional and physical toll of carrying out the final rites, driven by a sense of duty.
Syed Ibrahim, a volunteer with a Muslim charity group in the south-eastern city of Chennai, is also aware of the risks. “Of course I’m scared. This is an extremely contagious disease,” he told AFP. “In our religion, it’s said that God has destined certain things for us… so we bravely take care of the burials and anything else people need from us.”
Mahdi Raza, 30, who usually runs a cafe in the northern city of Lucknow and had been fasting during Ramadhan, has buried hundreds of Covid-19 victims since the start of the pandemic last year. But in the past few months, he has also received calls for help from non-Muslim communities, France24 reported.