Giving Compass' Take:

• Shereena Qazi explains how Sri Lanka's burial restrictions in response to the pandemic disregard Muslim beliefs and reflect racist sentiments.

• How do widespread disasters of all kinds often incur racist policies and increased discrimination? How can funders help to create safe and respectful options for mourning? 

• Learn about how you can fund vulnerable populations suffering disproportionately from the pandemic.


The grief-stricken family of Zubair Fathima Rinosa in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo is demanding justice and explanation after tests, released two days after her body had been cremated, showed that the 44-year-old Muslim woman did not die from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Mohammed Sajid, one of Rinosa's four sons, said his mother was cremated on May 5 as part of Sri Lanka's controversial policy of mandatory cremation of all coronavirus victims in violation of traditional Islamic funeral practices.

The Buddhist-majority South Asian island nation originally agreed on burials but amended the guidelines on April 11 making cremations of COVID-19 victims mandatory - a step Muslims say deprives them of their basic religious right.

Prominent Muslim activists and personalities have expressed their concerns against the ban on burials which they see as part of anti-Muslim rhetoric amid the pandemic.

Buddhist nationalists and section of media have blamed Muslims, who form nearly 10 percent of the population, for the spread of the virus that has, worldwide, killed more than 280,000 people and infected at least four million people.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's counsel, Ali Sabry, said the government's cremation order was in disregard to guidelines by the World Health Organization (WHO).

"If the decision-makers, having considered all facts and aspects and have reached a decision based on scientific, medical or logical concerns, I have no issues with it and people must comply with it," he told Al Jazeera.

Sabry said it was unfortunate to find racism rearing its ugly head every time Sri Lanka is faced with a crisis. "Unfortunately, during the last few weeks, there has been quite a lot of hate speech directed at Muslims," said Sabri, who was nominated to Parliament from the governing Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party.

Read the full article about Sri Lanka's burial restrictions by Shereena Qazi at Aljazeera.