According to Sri Lankan policy, when someone dies of COVID-19 they are to be cremated; however this thwarts the Muslims’ (a minority in Sri Lanka) burial traditions. The government of Sri Lanka declared that the customs of Muslim burial pose as a public health risk despite the success other countries have had in burying their COVID-19 victims.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka continues to enable the oppression of the minority population by determining that burying victims of COVID-19 in the ground could “contaminate the ground water.” The World Health Organization has already declared that there is no health risk as a result of burying the dead, and they have even attempted to encourage the Sri Lankan government to stop spreading these false rumors intended to strip away one of the most important aspects of any religion: their journey to the afterlife.

This has led to protests across the country in which the enraged victims tied pieces of white fabric to the fences of the crematoriums that have burnt the remains of their families and friends. Muslims already faced harassment from the oppressive forces in Sri Lanka, and with this new policy the government is almost providing a form of justification for this hate by stripping away aspects of their religion and their identity. This issue clearly exhibits the manner in which oppression is justified, and unfortunately many people of different religions, races, and genders can relate to the prospect of government-funded hate.