Cop. A trust. An NGO: When even family wont, they give dignity to dead

Mumbai Juma Masjid Trust members at a suburban crematorium with a girl whose mother died on Monday

As bodies of COVID-19 patients continue piling up and are leaving frontline workers tasked with disposing of them exhausted, the Mumbai Juma Masjid Trust of the Bada Kabristan in Marine Lines has been helping with the funerals of everyone killed by the virus, irrespective of faith. Like the trust, other citizens too have stepped up to help families and government machinery dealing with the losses.

The trust had been burying Muslims- bodies free of cost. But after seeing an increasing number of Hindu dead, it has decided to help with cremations too. The trust has seven members, Sohaib Khatib president, Juma Masjid Trust Bombay, Iqbal Mamdani former journalist, Sabir Nirban builder and developer, advocates Irfan Shaikh, Sohail Saz, Salim Parekh, Rafiq Soratiya and more than 70 volunteers. In the past two months, the trust has cremated over 200 Hindu dead.

A member of Mumbai Juma Masjid Trust pays a priest after a cremation

"Not cremating corpses at the earliest is a disrespect to the dead. We had been disposing of Muslims- bodies at different kabristans in Mumbai," said Iqbal Mamdani, a former journalist who has been helping the trust in the suburbs.

"In a bid to lessen the burden on morgues, we have till date cremated over 200 bodies of Hindus at different crematoriums in Mumbai. People should spread brotherhood instead of focusing on communal hatred," he added.

Constable Subhash Shinde helps with a cremation

On Monday, the trust created a 13-year-old girl-s mother who died of COVID-19 at Cooper Hospital. "The woman was a footpath dweller in Andheri and she used to work as a house-keeping staff. She fell sick but she had no access to a hospital. So we intervened and got her admitted to RN Cooper Hospital but she died," said Maruf Khan, a housekeeping manager with whom the woman worked. While doing rounds of various hospitals, he spotted the woman-s daughter on Monday and got to know of the death.

"We took the woman-s body to Oshiwara crematorium where she was cremated as per Hindu rituals. The woman had said that if she dies, her daughter be handed over to Khan, so the child is in the safe hands of Khan who has promised her to give food, shelter, education, etc.," said Sadiq Naikwadi.

The ambulance run by Mumbai Juma Masjid Trust to transport bodies

"We have also cremated bodies of hundreds of people whose relatives did not want to even set fire to the funeral pyre. The relatives of a few of the dead were helpless as they could not travel in the lockdown. We have also buried many Catholics in various cemeteries," Naikwadi added.

-Can-t see people suffering-
A 33-year-old police constable, Subhash Shinde, attached to Virar police station in Palghar has cremated over 100 unclaimed bodies. He also cremated two people whose relatives could not arrive from other cities amid the lockdown.

A trust member hands the 13-year-old girl her mother-s ashes

"I cannot see someone suffering. While posted in the Mira-Bhayandar division, I helped perform the last rites of people whose relatives had financial constraints. I spend for the funerals from my own pocket," said Shinde.

One such Virar resident, Pramod Khare, 42, who hailed from Delhi, died of a heart ailment in the first week of May. Shinde ensured that Khare-s relatives in Delhi and Kolkata could see the funeral on video. "In Hinduism, it is said that attending a funeral rids a person of their sins. Maybe this is God-s way of helping me get rid of my sins," said Shinde. In the last week of May, Shinde cremated an unidentified man found dead on the streets.

Sohel Rizvi, who runs the Bablu Bata Foundation BBF, has helped cremate bodies of over 40 COVID-19 patients irrespective of religion.

NGO lends a helping hand
"From helping relatives claim the body from the hospital to performing the funeral, we have stood with people," said Rizvi. BBF has also helped sanitise such people-s houses. BBF started with sanitisation of wards, buildings and areas that had COVID-19 patients. The NGO then noticed the difficulties families were facing when their relatives died and started approaching them to help with the formalities and tasks such as arranging an ambulance, coordinating with BMC and the crematorium staff.

200
No. of bodies of Hindus the trust has helped cremate so far

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