OUTSIDE A HOSPITAL in southern Sri Lanka on December 22nd, a handful of Muslim men bowed their heads against the rain, chanting prayers as an unpolished coffin was loaded into an ambulance. They were given just minutes to pay their respects to the deceased, who, doctors said, had tested positive for covid-19. But that was not the most distressing part of it. Against the wishes of his family, his body was being rushed not to a cemetery, but to a crematorium.
Muslims make up nearly one in ten Sri Lankans. Their religiously ordained practice of burying the dead has rarely caused problems, even though the island’s two biggest religions, Buddhism (the faith of some 70% of Sri Lankans) and Hinduism (13%) practise cremation. With the pandemic approaching last spring, the government issued guidelines that permitted burial of those infected provided the grave was at least six feet deep and the water table low enough not to get contaminated. However, when the disease claimed its first Muslim victim on March 31st, hospital workers defied the victim’s family and had him cremated.
Soon afterwards, the health ministry issued new rules making it compulsory to cremate everyone who had died of covid-19—for the greater good. Burials attract crowds, it argued. Pro-government media also cited “experts” who claimed the virus could leech...
