They say that they perform all these tasks by having deep faith in Allah

NEW DELHI — The selfless service being rendered by Muslims during this hour of crisis is drawing people’s attention. Media reports and social media posts are full of stories which point to noble work that Muslims are doing throughout the country. The latest report is from Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district where four Muslim youths have performed the last rites of more than 800 bodies of Hindus according to Hindu traditions.

As a result of rising Covid deaths, crematoriums and burial grounds in most parts of the country are brimming. New18 reports that Abdul Jabbar, Sheikh Ahmad, Sheikh Alim and Arif Khan have been carrying out Hindu funerals at a crematorium in Yavatmal. The report says that the youths haven’t even had the time to take a short nap in days.

Relatives of many people who are dying of Covid-19 have been abandoning the bodies at the crematorium out of fear of catching the deadly disease, they say.

Maharashtra is India’s worst-affected state. According to the latest available reports, nearly 45,600 people have got infected in the district while over 1,150 have died. The state on Thursday reported 66,159 new Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour period and 771 deaths; the number of active cases hit 6,70,301.

The moment a person dies of Covid infection, the whole family is spooked, locals in Yavatmal say.

Officials say the situation is so dire that people are not helping those infected by the virus and do not even turn up for the last rites. In situations like that, others like these four youths have had to step in. Abdul Jabbar and Sheikh Ahmad have been working at the crematorium for the past 17 to 18 years.

They are performing the last rites of Hindus according to the religious tradition of the deceased. They say that they perform all these tasks by having deep faith in Allah. And that they will keep doing this in the future.

Since virtually no one is coming forward to perform the last rites of the dead as per their religious rituals, the administration has handed over this responsibility to the municipal corporation. For this task, the civic body has constituted two teams and they perform the last rites. The members of these two teams are working day and night at the crematorium, officials say.