Opinion
Burial or cremation – the polemic has begun
By Dr M. HARIS DEEN
The front page headline item in The Island (12.11.2020), titled “Resumption of burials a high risk the country cannot afford to take”, ascribed to Member of Parliament Muzammil, shows his ignorance; he has caused a reprehensible affront on the Muslim community.
Muzammil’ss reasoning is unacceptable, when he says “that the country was struggling to cope with the corona pandemic and no one should be allowed to play politics at a time of national health emergency”.
Yes, not only our country, but many advanced nations, like the United Kingdom, the US,. Canada and European nations, and closer to home, India and Singapore, are also facing the spread of the pandemic. This has certainly not been attributed to theburial of victims rather it has resulted from failure of the people to adhere to preventive guidelines of personal hygiene and physical distancing. All other countries, including our closest neighbour India, a predominantly Hindu country, permit burial of not only Muslims who die of COVID-19 but all others. This is what the Sri Lankan Muslims are asking for. Refusal of this right amounts to a violation of accepted human rights norms but also denial of justice guaranteed by Article 10 of the Sri Lankan Constitution which affirms that – “Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to adopt a religion or belief of his choice”.
There is no evidence from countries which had large numbers of COVID deaths, who were buried, that burials have caused ground water contamination or led to the spread of the virus.
Muzammil has emphasised that whatever the religious dictates and sentiments, the Sri Lankan Muslim community should adhere to specific instructions issued by the Government as regards the cremation of corona victims. Of course, it is true that Muslims are the only ones taking up the case on behalf of all, irrespective of faith, who desire burial as a dignified last rites. The large number of tombstones in every graveyard bears testimony to the fact that a majority number of people prefer burial to cremation.
Muzammil continues to play politics when he says he also believes Muslims have to be buried and support that position and adds ‘but the extraordinary situation on the ground makes my personal stand, on this matter, irrelevant’. What hypocrisy? He argues that ‘Muslim burials were done in accordance with Arabian customs which the Sri Lankan community would have to give up or face the consequences’. However, what he has failed to point out was that Muslims are not requesting that they be allowed to perform the rites following a death under normal circumstances. According to the edicts issued by Muslim scholars following deaths in wars and during pandemics the need for washing the body and shrouding it with white cloth can be dispensed with, and the body can be shrouded in sealed plastic and put in a sealed coffin approved by the government. All that is necessary is to sanctify the deceased with the prayer before burial.
Coming to the Muslims, they are themselves not helping their cause. A leaderless community, hounded by self-centred politicians, and deeply divided, has failed to present its case effectively. I certainly hope that saner counsel will prevail, and the process of amending the cremation bill, to permit burial, will succeed. In this respect, Muzammil has rightly said, “The Muslim community should speak with one voice on this matter.” Whether these sentiments were genuine or otherwise, I certainly support him on this point.
In many civilizations, traditions and religions— both ancient and modern —death is a mere transitional phase between one stage of life and another. Burying the dead is one way to ensure that the dead are accorded dignity and respect, and that the feelings of their living loved ones are considered. Throughout history, religions, traditions and cultural practices have influenced the ways in which the dead are managed, both in times of peace and conflict. Today, they continue to do so.
As for Muzammil’s comment on contaminations, I repeat what I stated from authoritative sources in my earlier article to allay fears of contamination stated by Muzammil:
Microbial and chemical contamination can also occur in cemeteries as a result of unmanaged, untreated and incorrectly sited sanitation services, solid waste, and wastewater which allows for the flow of microorganisms and contaminants into cemeteries.
In general, bodies that are treated and buried in correctly sited and constructed cemeteries do not pose a threat to public health and are not a source of pollution. The WHO guidelines clearly stipulate that to date there has been no evidence to suggest that individuals have become infected from exposure to the bodies of persons who have died from COVID-19.
If conducted according to the usual recommended health and safety practices, the burial of a person who has died of C-19 should poses no risk to the environment or the people.
However, when sited properly and according to sound scientific judgment, cemeteries should protect surface water and groundwater from contamination, regardless of the cause of death.
To date there have been no reported cases of Coronavirus that causes COVID-19) being detected in drinking water, in either private boreholes or public drinking water systems coming from cemeteries. This can be related to the travel time that SARS-CoV-2 will need in order to remain infective.
So far, SARS-CoV-2 does not have a high level of persistence in the environment, due to it being an enveloped virus and can be eliminated effectively by water treatment, especially chlorination, and would pose a minimal risk to drinking water.
Email: deenmohamed835@gmail.com
The first and only tsunami that Sri Lanka experienced was on Boxing Day(26th) of December 2004. My wife and I, as usual, went down to Modara in Moratuwa to purchase our seafood requirements of seafood from our familiar fishmonger, Siltin, from whom we had been buying fish for a long time. Sometimes we used to take a couple of friends of ours. But on this day, it was only both of us that went on this trip.
We made our purchases and were returning home and when we came up to the Dehiwala bridge, many people were looking down at the canal from both sides of the bridge. This was strange, as normally if there was something unusual, it would be on one side.
Anyway, we came home unaware of anything that had happened. A school friend of mine (sadly he is no longer with us) telephoned me and asked whether I was aware of what had happened. When I answered him in the negative, he told me to switch on the TV and watch. Then when I did so and saw what was happening, I was shocked. But still I did not know that we had just managed to escape being swept away by the tsunami.
Later, when I telephoned Siltin and asked him, he said that both of us had a narrow escape. Soon after we had left in our car, the tsunami had invaded the shore with a terrifying wave and taken away everything of the fishmongers, including their stalls, the fish, weighing scales and money. The fishmongers had managed to run to safety.
This had been about five minutes after we had left. So, it was a narrow shave to have escaped the wrath of the demining tsunami( the name many Sri Lankans came to know after it hit our island very badly}
HM NISSANKA WARAKAULLE
Sri Lanka has recorded a staggering 375 elephant deaths in the past eleven and a half months due to a multitude of causes, according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation. U. L Thaufeeq, Deputy Director – Elephant Conservation said the deaths include 74 from gunshots, 53 from electrocution, 49 from hakka patas (explosive devices hidden in food), seven from poisoning, 10 from train accidents, three from a road accident, and six by drowning. It makes such diabolical reading!
“The causes of other deaths are due to natural causes or causes that could not be identified. Most of the elephants that died were young,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the human-elephant conflict has also taken a toll on people, with 149 human deaths reported this year.
Accordingly, human-elephant conflict has resulted in 524 deaths of both elephants and humans in 2024.
In 2023, a total of 488 elephants and 184 people have died consequent to the conflict, according to Wildlife Department statistics.
The human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka has escalated to unprecedented levels with reasons like habitat destruction, encroachment, and the lack of sustainable coexistence measures contributing to the issue.
This is an indictment of the Wildlife Department for just giving the sad yearly statistics of shocking losses of our National treasures !
Given the fact that Sri Lanka boasts of 29.9% of the country declared as protected forests, Sri Lanka is a haven for nature lovers. Boasting 26 national parks, 10 nature reserves including 3 strict nature reserves, and 61 sanctuaries, the national parks in Sri Lanka offer an incredible variety of wildlife experiences.
Taken in that context, the million dollar question is why on earth the Wildlife Department is not being proactive to capture these magnificent animals and transport them into protected sanctuaries, thus effectively minimising dangers to villagers ?
Being a Buddhist country primarily, to turn a blind eye to these avoidable tragic deaths to mankind and wild elephants, we should be ashamed !
As a practising Buddhist myself, I think our clergy could play a major part in calling upon the Wildlife Department to get their act together sooner rather than later to protect human elephant conflicts !
Sri Lanka being a favourite destination amongst foreign tourists, they are bound to take a dim view of what is happening on the ground!
If the top brass in the responsible department are not doing their job properly, may be there is a case for the new President to intervene before it gets worse!
All animal lovers hope and pray the New Year will usher in a well coordinated plan of action put in place to ensure the well being of wildlife and villagers !
Sunil Dharmabandhu
Wales, UK
This has reference to the article from the Aircraft Owners and Operators Sri Lanka, titled ‘Closer look at regulatory oversight and its impact on Tourism’, published on Tuesday, 24th December 2024.To explain further, in the beginning there was the Air Navigation Act No 15 of 1950 which was followed by the Air Navigation Regulations (ANR) of 1955. This was long before the national airline had acquired pressurised aircraft, intercontinental jets, sophisticated navigation equipment, satellite communication and automatic landing systems, and ‘glass’ flight-deck instrumentation.
Today, civil aviation in Sri Lanka is governed by Civil Aviation Act Number 14 of 2010. Yet the Air Navigation Regulations (ANR) promulgated back in 1955 remain in force.
These outdated regulations still stipulate rules forbidding the carriage of passengers on the airplane’s wings or undercarriage (landing gear). In short, they are neither practical nor user-friendly. In contrast, the Air Navigation Regulations of other countries have progressed and are easy to read, understand, and implement.
To overcome the problem of outdated regulations, as an interim measure in 1969 the then Minister of Communications and Transport, Mr E.L.B. Hurulle issued a Government Gazette notification declaring that the Standard and Recommended Procedures (SARPs) in Annexes to the ICAO Convention signed by Ceylon in 1944 shall be made law.
Even so, nothing much was done to move with the times until updating of the Civil Aviation Act 14 of 2010, while the Air Navigation Regulations remained unchanged since 1955. However, these regulations were modified from time to time by the promulgation of Implementing Standards (IS) and General Directives (GDs) which were blindly ‘cut and pasted’ by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), from the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Annexe ‘SARPS’ without much thought given. To date there are literally 99 IS’s starting from 2010.
The currently effective air navigation regulations are not in one document like the rest of the world, but all over the place and difficult for the flying public to follow as they are not regularly updated. This sad situation seems to have been noticed by the current regime.
The National Tourism Policy of the ruling NPP states, “Domestic air operations are currently limited due to high cost and regulatory restrictions. The current regulatory and operational environment will be reviewed to ensure domestic air connectivity to major tourist destinations. The potential of operating a domestic air schedule with multiple operators is proposed. Additionally, domestic airports and water aerodromes in potential key areas will be further developed, for high-end tourism growth.”
“The tourism policy recognises Sri Lanka’s potential to develop Sri Lanka’s aviation-based specialised tourism products, including fun flying, hot air ballooning, paragliding, parachuting and skydiving, and scenic seaplane operations. To facilitate the growth of these niche markets, existing regulations will be reviewed with the aim of attracting capable investors to develop and operate these offerings.”
It remains to be seen whether the NPP government lives up to those promises.
Note:
That OPA report talks of two funds: ‘Connectivity’ and ‘Viability’ for a limited period like three or five years to help jump-start the domestic aviation industry.
The ‘Connectivity Fund’ will cap the seat price for local passengers to a more affordable value to destinations while the ‘Viability Fund’ will assume that all seats are occupied and compensate the operator for any unutilised seat. The intention is to popularise domestic aviation as a safe, quick and convenient mode of transport.
Capt. Gihan A Fernando
RCyAF/ SLAF, Air Ceylon, Air Lanka, Singapore Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines.
Now A Fun Flier
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