Ghaus Siwani

Lokesh Kumar died at the hospital in Raipur in Chhattisgarh while undergoing treatment for Covid-19 infection.

His family members shied away from touching his body leave alone taking it for cremation, when the trio of Hemant Song, Sunny Menon and Tahir Khan became the pallbearers for Lokesh Kumar and performed his last rites. The family libed in village Amanda, on outskirts of the capital city.

The trio is part of a 15-member team of young volunteers of Gariband who have been helping families in such difficult situations as handling the bodies of their dear one’s who have died of Covid-19.

If there is one silver line on the horizons of the otherwise gloomy Covid-19 crisis is the unity of the Indians cutting across religions and cultures to support each other. It was quite common to see Muslims wearing PPE kits and making funeral pyres for the cremation of a Hindus’s body.

Tahir Khan, who is the team leader, said that the town faced many deaths due to the Covid-19. In such a situation even the relatives of the deceased are unable to do much as they are afraid of catching the infection.

Saddam and his team during the cremation of Sundari Bai

The mother-son family lived in a shanty on the Mount Faza road, a Muslim-majority area of ​​Bhopal. Everyone was busy in the Eid festivities when the news of Sundari Bai (80) breathing her last came.

Her son works as a labourer and couldn’t even afford the expenses of hiring an ambulance and the charges at the crematorium. The neighbours too shied away from visiting the family due to Covid-19.

“We formed a team of young people to perform the last rites. This includes Hemant Song, Dr. Harish Chauhan, Sunni Memon, Junaid Khan, Chandra Bhushan Chauhan, Kadar Hangura, Manish Yadav, Shafiq Raza, Haider Ali Sarwar Khan, Muhammad Latif Shahadat Ali, Yusuf Memon, Asif Khan, Sajid Khan, Arbaaz Khan and others.

In Bhopal, on Eid-ul-Fitr day, Muslim youth cremated the body of an 80-year-old woman. Her only son was unable to complete the process of cremation all by himself when the woman Sandriya Devi, who hailed from Chhattisgarh died of Covid-19.

At this stage, a group of Muslim young men, came forward and not only engaged an ambulance to carry the woman’s body to the crematorium but also bore all the expenses of the ritual send-off. They took all the care to follow all the religious customs and rituals that go with a Hindu’s cremation.

Saddam, the team leader said, religion always teaches one to help others in all situations irrespective of religion. “On the day of Eid, we have received blessings from the Almighty for his work,” he said.