Sri Lanka ends forced cremations of COVID victims after Pakistan PM Imran Khan s visit
Dozens of demonstrators had used Khan s visit as an opportunity to call attention to the Sri Lankan government s disregard for Islamic burial customs and carried a mock coffin.
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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, center, stands with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, right, after his arrival in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo | AP) By AFP
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Friday ended forced cremations of people who have died of coronavirus, after visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan urged Colombo to respect the funeral rites of the island s minority Muslims.
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COLOMBO (News1st): Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has welcomed the government’s decision to reverse its mandatory cremation policy of COVID-19 deceased.
“I thank the Sri Lankan leadership & welcome the Sri Lankan govt’s official notification allowing the burial option for those dying of COVID-19,” Khan who visited the country recently said in a tweet.
Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also expressed similar sentiments.
“Pakistan is grateful to the leadership of Sri Lanka for allowing the option of burial for victims of COVID-19,” Qureshi said in a tweet a day after the government amended the laws.
U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina B. Teplitz also welcomed the government’s “long overdue” move.
Sri Lanka ends forced cremations
26th February, 2021 11:24:49
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Friday ended forced cremations of people who have died of coronavirus, after visiting Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan urged Colombo to respect the funeral rites of the island’s minority Muslims, reports AFP.
The government first banned burials in April over concerns which experts said were baseless by influential Buddhist monks that the practice could contaminate groundwater and spread the virus.
The policy was decried by members of the South Asian nation’s Muslim community who constitute 10 percent of the 21 million population. While health minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi did not give a reason in her announcement reversing the ban, official sources said Khan had raised the subject with both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa during his trip earlier this week.
India and Pakistan, in a joint statement issued on February 25, said they had agreed to 'strict observance' of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control and all other sectors.
The government first banned burials in April over concerns it could contaminate groundwater and spread coronavirus, prompting backlash from the country's Muslim community.