By Faisal Ahmed Khan siyasat.net
Each deceased individual deserves the right to a dignified funeral in every civilized society. Apart from this, numerous national and international laws mandate dignified last rites for a deceased person in accordance with the faith of the person.
It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the proper disposal of human bodies.
During the current pandemic time, we are witnessing large-scale deaths all across the country and a chaotic situation.
In such a turbulent time, extraordinary pressure is being exerted by the burial and cremation sites which was never seen before in the last hundred years. The costs and efforts required for the funeral had escalated to disproportionate magnitude; furthermore, the fear of infection among the family members contributing to the disbanding of the last rites of the dead. Abandoning of dead bodies and improper disposal of dead bodies in open, rivers or lakes can pose a serious health threat and could lead to a catastrophic situation.
Certain non-government organizations and groups are involved in the voluntary tasks of helping the administration in disposing of the dead bodies before the start of decomposing. Many a time, persons or groups of different faith are required to perform the last rite of the dead person of different faith which tends to invite wide scale appreciation coupled with criticism. The criticism is primarily focused on not abiding by their own faith-prescribed method for disposal of dead bodies.
In such a dilemmatic situation, one must know that the government must perform the funeral of the individual in absence of the family members and relatives under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897, and district administration should carry out the last rites as per the religious belief known to the administration with proper protocol. The expenses on transportation and funeral should be charged to the National Disaster Mitigate Fund.
The voluntary groups can just act as a representative or facilitate the government by their own choice however they are not required to apply their methods in disposing of the bodies rather they should comply with standard operating procedures and protocols stipulated by the administration.
Extraordinary times require extraordinary efforts, the openness of mind, compassion for humanity, leaving aside differences, abandoning animosity, and embracing positivity. Furthermore, the most important is the intention. As Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) has said actions are according to intentions, and everyone will get what was intended.
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