Politics Of A Pandemic: Reason Or Racism?

War was good for business and great for politics. Now as things have turned out, so is a pandemic. Many prospered financially from war and others entrenched themselves and their kith and kin in the cozy seats of power thanks to the war.

“Corpses sour you. They are bad for objectivity” - Bertolt Brecht

The COVID-19 pandemic too, is good for business, as the rumour goes, with hundreds of hotel rooms being used for quarantining of those who come from abroad and a slice of the income going to some influential persons. It is great for politics also. The Anti Muslim frenzy that helped the present Government in to power is kept alive by the continuation of the ban that was imposed in January last year on burial of dead persons with COVID-19, with Muslims being the ones mostly affected by the decision. Members of the Buddhist clergy supporting the ruling party make sure that the anti-Muslim sentiment that prevails among a large segment of the majority Sinhala populace serves the Government in detracting the attention of the people from the abysmal failure in all walks of national life.

GMOA

The Government Medical Officers Association released a statement to the effect that there was no scientific medical evidence to suggest that the COVID-19 virus could spread through the burial of corpses of patients diagnosed positive for the virus. Previously qualified and renowned experts such as Prof. MalikPieris have expressed the same opinion. Sri Lanka seems to be the only country that has banned burial of bodies for the fear that the virus could spread through burial and that soil and waterways could get contaminated. The World Health Organization guidelines very clearly states that both burial and cremation is permissible, provided the last rites are done under strict compliance of preventive regulations.