NEW DELHI: Following the reports of graveyard committees in the national capital not allowing burial of persons, who die of coronavirus, the Delhi Wakf Board (DWB) has designated a cemetery for such casualties, situated along Ring Road near Millennium Park.An order, issued by chief executive officer (CEO) of the board SM Ali, said the graveyard known as ‘Jadeed Qabrustaan’ may be used for burial of COVID-19 victims.
“One of the major problems faced by the public is to pay the last rites of coronavirus victims. It has been reported that due to the lack of information the general public is not allowing the burial of the victim of coronavirus in graveyards of Delhi, which is unfortunate. In order to facilitate the last rite of corona victim the office of DWB is pleased to designate one of its graveyards as ‘COVID-19 graveyard,” said the order issued on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Delhi Minority Commission (DMC) has written to the director and secretary of health department of Delhi government directing not to mention of ‘religious undertones’ in its daily bulletins on coronavirus cases in the city.
The letter sent by its chairman, Zafarul Islam Khan said, “Your bulletins of coronavirus victims are showing a separate column ‘Markaz Masjid’. Such thoughtless classification is feeding into the Islamophobia agenda and Hindutva forces…. has been easily turned into a handle to attack Muslims across the country. As a result, Muslims are being attacked in various areas, calls are being made for their social boycott, one boy has been lynched in the North-West Delhi village of Harewali, others attacked.”So far, more than 400 people, who attended religious meetings at Markaz last month, have been tested COVID-19 positive.