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Burial of Covid deceased: Christian groups voice support

04 Jan 2021

By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody   Ending the prolonged and pronounced silence from the Christian community concerning the issue of the burial of the Covid-19 deceased, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance Sri Lanka (NCEASL) and the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) have urged the Government to respect the rights of Muslims and Christians to perform the final rites in accordance with their religions. Citing the Sri Lanka Medical Association’s (SLMA) recent pronouncement that the burial of the Covid-19 deceased could be permitted as per the established scientific evidence, NCEASL General Secretary and World Evangelical Alliance Deputy Secretary General Godfrey Yogarajah told The Morning yesterday (4) that “burial should be allowed in keeping with the established safety procedures”.  Former MP and activist Ali Zahir Moulana, who has been a prominent figure in the fight for the right to burial since April, welcomed the support of these two groups. “While Christians have expressed support for our cause from the inception of this struggle – including during the FR (fundamental rights) petitions filed in this regard at the Supreme Court and the subsequent peaceful protests, such as the tying of pieces of white cloth at the Borella General Cemetery – this is the first instance that important and prominent Christian personalities are vociferously coming out in support of our right to burial,” he told The Morning. He added that the SLMA has stated there is no health hazard from burial, and also cited scientific evidence as proof that no contamination would occur. Meanwhile, a collective of civil society activists and organisations have urged the Government to heed the advice of local medical professionals approving, amongst others, the burial of the bodies of the persons who died due to Covid-19, and to thereby enable burial. In recent times, virologists such as Prof. Malik Peiris and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Prof. Tissa Vitharana, and medical bodies such as the SLMA and the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka (CCPSL), have publicly announced that, based on the available science, the burial of the Covid-19 deceased can be permitted. The CCPSL issued a statement explaining that out of approximately 85,000 scientific papers published on Covid-19, not a single case of the virus spreading through a dead body has been recorded. In their position paper, the college had further stated that the claims that it spreads directly through groundwater have not been scientifically substantiated, noting that there is no indication that the virus could be transmitted through drinking water. The SLMA issued a similar statement, asserting that the Covid-19 deceased could be buried, as the virus is unlikely to remain infectious within a dead body. All these views challenge the Government’s position on mandatory cremation (gazetted by the Ministry of Health after a previous gazette issued by the Minister of Health permitted both burial and cremation) and argue in support of permitting safe burials. International actors, including the United Nations Resident Co-ordinator in Sri Lanka, and several local religious leaders too have made appeals to the same effect. An appeal made by civil society actors read: “With Sri Lanka’s own medical community supporting the burial of the Covid-19 deceased, there is now no more opportunity for the Government to continue with its cremation-only policy, which has clearly discriminated against religious minorities. “Medical bodies have also acknowledged the religious and cultural implications of the forcible cremation policy that has not only affected inter-community co-existence and reconciliation, but can be an unwarranted public health and wellbeing issue, especially for the affected groups. “We recognise the scientific evidence on the spread of Covid-19 through the handling of dead bodies, participating in funeral rituals, and social gatherings, and therefore support the imposition of legitimate limitations on these activities. The Government’s ongoing forcible cremation policy pursued amidst a lack of scientific evidence has caused much suffering and grievance to certain religious groups.  “Hence, we urge the Government to listen to the unequivocal advice by these respected individuals and bodies in the medical field and act to enable those from religious minorities and other groups who wish to bury their dead to do so without hindrance.”

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