Hyderabad: Major SGM Quadri (Retd) wrote a letter to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh after the cremation of a Muslim body took place in Guntur District.
Below is the copy of letter:
Hon’ble Chief Minister
Govt of Andhra Pradesh
PETITION AGAINST GUNTUR DIST COLLECTOR FOR CREMATING A MUSLIM. REQUEST FOR ALLOCATION OF LAND, KEEP GRAVES READY, ASSIGN BURIAL RESPONSIBILITY TO MUNICIPAL COMMISSIONERS IN CASE RELATIVES OF THE DECEASED ARE QUARANTINED
Respected Sir,
Muslim community is aghast by the news of cremation of Shaikh Subhani, owner of a famous Biryani Hotel in Guntur on Sun Mar 26 on the illegal orders of Shri Samuel Anand Kumar, Dist Collector.
While every human life is precious and every death is painful, every dead man deserves a proper send off. Not performing the last rite as per the customs of the community is not only unethical but a disrespect to the dead man’s rights. Besides hurting the sentiments of the bereaved family, the violation of Sharia Law is an insult to the Muslims at large.
Whereas the community is under siege, distressed over the malicious propaganda and motivated targeting. Whereas the false and fabricated allegation against the Tablighi Jamaat to malign & stigmatize the entire Muslim community has caused a lot of heart burn, dismay and disquiet.
At a critical juncture like this, any mindless act can alienate the community and erode its trust in the State. An unwarranted and irresponsible act on the part of Shri Samuel Anand Kumar, Dist Collector, Guntur Dist will send a wrong signal, weaning away the community.
Whether willful or negligent, the callous behaviour of a senior officer of the government violating the orders of the Govt on disposing of the body of Corona virus victims as per the religious customs and personal laws of the community concerned cannot be tolerated.
We sincerely urge that an FIR is filed against the Dist Collector and Municipal Commissioner of Guntur and a time bound inquiry is conducted in a transparent manner to restore the confidence of the community and to assuage the hurt caused. We further request that whatever disciplinary action is taken, it should be recorded in the ACR to serve as a deterrent to others.
It has also come to our knowledge that following the example of Guntur Collector, Shri Imtiaz, Collector Krishna Dist had almost cremated the body of an Aalim in Vijayawada. Reportedly your timely intervention saved the situation.
In view of the likelihood of the pandemic lasting long, we request you to allocate small pieces of land in every village outside the human habitat and some graves are dug and kept ready to intern the bodies of Muslims dying of Covid-19 and SOP is issued to GHMC to supervise the burial in case the relatives are quarantined .
Thanking you.
Yours faithfully,
Major SGM Quadri
for Social Initiative for Legal Remedies
Letter by Major Qadri 