Bhavnagar group sets aside religion to honour Covid-19 dead

RAJKOT: During challenging times as these, humanity rises high above religious differences. And what better example can be but of this group from Bhavnagar that has been serving the unclaimed Covid bodies reaffirming faith in the goodness of mankind.
At a time when completing the last rites of corona victims has proved to be a bigger challenge than getting treatment, this group has voluntarily taken up the task of giving every body a send off it deserves.In many of the cases, there are no relatives available to perform the last rites.
It is then when the members of the group, which has been actively involved in other social work like blood donation and de-addiction for quite sometime, started to cremate or bury these Covid victims. Till now, of the 13 Covid patients who died in Sir T hospital of Bhavnagar, this group has performed last rites of nine people. Of them, three were Hindus, who were cremated with all rituals performed according to Hindu tradition.
The group is being led by Arif Kalva, a local businessman. Earlier they approached the hospital after knowing about the death of a Covid patient, but now the hospital staff or even kin of the deceased approach them for the rites.
Talking to TOI, Kalva said: “This is very depressing situation. Often we find relatives not willing to perform the last rites of the deceased, or in some cases even the kin are quarantined not allowing them to perform the rituals, while their extended family members refuse to oblige. It's not humane to abandon the dead and so our group, armed with PPE kits for our own safety, decided to take up the onerous task.”
Citing an instance Kalva said that a Muslim man who recently succumbed to the virus had only one daughter, who is the sole inheritor of his property. And yet, the daughter and son-in-law refused to touch their father’s body. “We had to perform the last rites,” he added
In the last two days, the group has performed the last rites of two Hindus, a 62-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man, both hailing from very poor families. “We gave the money and helped their familes in performing the last rites,” said Kalva.
Nearly 15 people have joined Kalva’s activity including community leaders like the president of 32 Jamat, Mehboob Sheikh, Sadik Dana, Munna Badshah among others.