Ashok Kumar | Clarion India
MUMBAI – Nearly 200 young Muslim men have been working round-the-clock here, helping relatives of the victims of Covid-19 and arranging for the final rites while disposing the bodies.
Iqbal Mamdani, a task force member of Bada Qabrastan, told Clarion India on Monday that the youngsters coordinate with hospitals and pick up the bodies and arrange for the final rites.
“When we began work in March, the official order specified that the bodies of the victims who succumbed to Covid-19 had to be disposed at crematoriums,” Mamdani told this correspondent. “But many Muslim organisations from Malwani in north-west Mumbai objected to this. So we spoke to the officials and got the order revised, allowing for burials of the victims.”
The main reason for cremating the bodies was that the authorities feared they would not have the personnel to carry the bodies and bury them. But Bada Qabrastan assured the officials that their volunteers would do the work of transporting the bodies from the hospitals to the burial grounds.
In Mumbai, there are 15 crematoriums and 62 Qabrastans; seven of the Qabrastans are now allowed for burying the Covid-19 victims. “Our volunteers do not inquire about the religion of the victims and arrange for the cremation or burial,” adds Mamdani.
The work of transporting the bodies began in April, but in those days Bada Qabrastan did not have any ambulances and private ones were also not available. The organisation then bought half a dozen ambulances, which were not in good shape and had to be towed all the way to Marine Lines in south Mumbai. The vehicles needed a lot of repairs before being deployed.
“The bodies are also not available immediately at hospitals and we have to wait for about 18 hours to get them,” explains Mamdani.
Though primarily involved in burying Muslim victims, the Bada Qabrastan team decided to handle the formalities for all bodies that they were handed over. Hospital officials told the team that there were a lot of unclaimed bodies that had to be disposed of at the earliest.
“We have disposed of more than 250 Hindu bodies in all,” he points out. “We do not go into the religion of the victims, but dispose the body as their family members’ desire.”
In one case, the body of a 60-year-old woman, who lived alone in Juhu, was cremated by the volunteers who performed the necessary rites. The body of a teenaged girl, who also did not have any relatives, was also cremated by the volunteers.
Mamdani points out that the organisation covers Qabrastans for Muslims in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Palghar, Thane, Kalyan and up to Taloja (in Raigad district) and for non-Muslims only in Mumbai at present.
Funding such a major operation is also quite challenging. The Bada Qabrastan trust has been financing the cost of these operations.
The task team is headed by Sohaib Khatib, the Bada Qabrastan chairman. Other members include Mamdani, Sabir Nirban, Adv Irfan Shaikh, Salim Parekh, Sohail Shaikh and Rafiq Soratiya.
