Chennai: Humanity is beyond any religion or faith, and volunteers of the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam have set an apt example of it by performing the last rituals of COVID victims in the state of Tamil Nadu.
These days, there are no news column is spared from the reports of people being indifferent to the bodies of coronavirus victims. Corpses of people who succumbed to the pandemic were and are being disrespected and dishonored in many parts of the country. Amidst such crisis, the gesture by Muslim group touches the heart.
During this difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic, volunteers of the TNMMK have come forward to bury people who died of Covid and whose family is unable to conduct a decent funeral due to lack of resources. Also, in some cases, family members refuse to take the bodies to the burial ground fearing infection.
According to the organization's office bearers, their 4,000 volunteers have helped to cremate and bury 2,064 people across the state from April 1 to May 25 as per the Covid protocols. During the first wave of the pandemic, they conducted funerals of 1,350 people.
Mujeeb Mohammed of Gumudipundi on the outskirts of Chennai, who is a TMMK volunteer, told IANS, "The workers in the crematorium and burial grounds are fearful of contracting the virus on some occasions. We wear the PPE kits and observe the necessary sanitation, adhere to the Covid protocols, and do the burial or cremation according to the religious beliefs of the deceased."