While healthcare workers have been at the front line in the battle against COVID-19, there are some social organisations that are a source of support behind the scenes. Meet Kacchi Memon Jamat (KMJ), a community of Muslims from Akola, that is taking care of the last rites and burial of those who have succumbed to the virus or other causes amidst the pandemic.
The organisation has been active on various social fronts. Its youth have, so far, done the final rites of a total of 60 people, including 21 COVID-19 patients. Out of these 21 patients, five were Hindus.
Three days ago, they performed the last rites of a 78-year-old Hindu man. “Sharad Deshpande was a resident of Akola, who was residing with his wife. His wife tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted for treatment in Government Medical College. Deshpande suffered a heart attack at his home and passed away on May 23. The next day, his only son arrived from Nagpur, but refused to perform the last rites of his father, suspecting that he may get infected with COVID-19. The Akola Municipal Corporation requested Us to perform the last rites. We carried the dead body in our ambulance and cremated the aged person as per Hindu traditions,” Javed Zakaria, president of KMJ, told the Free Press Journal. Zakaria is also a Nationalist Congress Party leader in Akola.
How this started?
When the virus hit the state, the organisation donated 31 gum boots to the Civil Hospital on April 7. The hospital requested them to donate a water cooler for its COVID-19 patients. “On April 11, the auspicious Memon Day, we went to donate this cooler to the hospital. We found that a youth, Jehrool Islam, from Assam, had committed suicide on April 10 night and his final rites were yet to be done. He had tested positive for COVID-19. We offered to do his last rites as per Islamic traditions. But it was not so easy. We had to take permission from the Assam government and his family members residing there,” Zakaria told.
Zakaria personally leads a team of 10 youth and has, so far, performed the last rites of 60 people, even though their families oppose them to take such a risk.
Whenever someone passes away, the organisation gets a call from Akola Municipal Corporation. “We reach the hospital and the state government gives us Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and other protective gears. Then, we take possession of the body. If the patient was positive for coronavirus, then the body is directly taken for burial. If the cause of death is other than the virus, then we carry this body to the deceased home and then for burial,” he added. He also said that Akola Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Kapadnis and Sanitation Department head Prashant Rajurkar support them in this noble service.
This service comes with a risk to life. “When we do this, we feel like we are in heaven,” he said. The organisation has also deployed their three ambulances to help patients.
