Source: TRT World

Lukman Harees

The meme ‘Dying While Muslim’ may not be as familiar as ‘Flying While Muslim’ – which came into prominence in the post-9/11 years when Muslims began to experience Islamophobia after being singled out at airports and airlines.

But this meme has now gained popularity in the Sri Lankan context, where Muslims are at the butt end of compulsory state-sanctioned cremations – a discriminatory act in violation of their faith.

Didn’t Islamophobes in the United States once rudely quip ‘the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim?’. In Sri Lanka, even a dead Muslim is not being afforded a dignified send-off as per the dictates of his faith.

The ninth Covid-19 death in Sri Lanka was a Muslim woman, forcibly cremated in Modera, Colombo, reduced to ashes, with no funeral rights or family nearby, only to later discover she did not die of Covid -19.

Who will take responsibility for this tragic and wilful negligence? Who can transform her ashes to flesh and bones, so that her remains be buried whole in dignity, and not in an urn?

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