Iranaitheevu residents protest against Govt. decision to turn island into graveyard

Thursday, 4 March 2021 02:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Muslim Council calls decision a ‘bigger blunder’ than forcibly cremating 300 Muslims
Islanders say they want Govt. to respect Muslim burial rights
Urge Govt. to reconsider because land is used for livestock farming and cultivation

Residents of Iranaitheevu yesterday called on the Government to withdraw the decision to bury COVID-19 victims on the island, saying the decision to turn the tiny island north of Mannar into a graveyard would destroy land they rely on for cultivation and livestock farming.

The Government announced on Tuesday that it had chosen the isolated island inhabited by Tamil Catholics to bury victims of COVID-19. The announcement came a week after the Government, under severe international pressure, reversed a policy on mandatory cremation for those who die of the virus that has been in place since March 2020.

At the local fisheries harbour of Iranaimatha Nagar where the demonstration took place, Iranaitheevu residents were joined by members of the Catholic clergy who extended their support to the protests using the island for burials.

Iranaitheevu is home to 417 families most of whom were displaced until 2018, when in an incredible act of resistance, the people climbed aboard several dozen boats and returned to reclaim their land held by the Sri Lanka Navy. Some 350 families remain displaced waiting to return, protestors said. The Navy continues to maintain a presence on the island.

In a remarkable statement on the Government’s decision to use the island as a burial site, the residents expressed concern that the island was about 90 minutes away by boat from the mainland, and a corpse would have to travel over 20KM of ocean to be buried at the chosen site.

“We the people of Iranaitheevu along with our fellow north and east people continuously stand for the burial rights of our fellow Muslim community, and (raise our) voices against forced cremation,” the statement from the residents added, urging the Government to reverse the decision to use the island as a burial site.

In a statement, the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka echoed the call. Vice President of the Council Hilmy Ahmed said the Government suggesting burial in Iranaitheevu island was a “bigger blunder” than its mandatory cremation of over 300 Muslims who had died of the corona virus.

“The Jennifer Perera committee clearly approved burial in all Muslim burial grounds subject to strict adherence to quarantine rules and placing the body in double body bags. What more is needed when science has proven beyond any doubt that the coronavirus cannot contaminate ground water sources?”

Ahmed questioned why the Government made the strange decision to bury COVID-19 victims in an inhabited island, if it truly believed that the virus could contaminate ground water.