Trinidad Judge Ruled Wisely on Hindu Cremation

Reference is made to news story High Court Judge rules ban on Cremation Unconstitutional” (February 29). The learned High Court Judge Avason Quinlan-Williams ruled wisely! The government’s policy banning cremation (of Hindus) during the Covid 19 pandemic was unnecessary; it was a violation of the rights of Hindus to cremate their dead. Cremation was not a health hazard, not any more than burial of a deceased of Covid 19. In the US, funeral homes permitted viewing of victims of Covid 19 and there were open coffins. Transmission of Covid 19 from the dead to the living was not found in research. My mom’s coffin was open during viewing over several days. People came forward to pay respects and placed flowers on her body; no one contracted Covid from the contacts.

As someone who studied bio-chemistry, and I am certain other science researchers would concur that in order for a virus to survive, it must have a living host. It is almost impossible for a virus to survive, though not impossible, on a dead host. But the life span of a virus on the dead would be very short, maybe hours. Bio-medical researchers and pathologists did not find any living virus species on deceased victims of Covid 19, suggesting the virus died when the host died. And if the virus survived, intense heat would have eliminated it if the body was cremated. Intense heat from a cremation pyre kills all bacteria and viruses on a body. Epidemiologist Dr Farley Cleghorn and the WHO expressed the view that cremation did not pose risk of spreading Covid 19.

Outdoor cremation did not pose risk to the public; indoor cremation was a greater risk to people at a wake or in a room in a funeral home. People would have been far apart and followed virus protocol outdoors. Similar measures were limited in indoor wakes and cremations posing health risks. Burial also posed health risks during Covid 19 and people were known to contract the virus from others (the living. Not the dead). My mother died from Covid. Family members who repeatedly touched her body, performing various rituals, did not contract or showed symptoms of Covid.

The constitutional lawsuit brought by Cindy-Ann Ramsaroop-Persad was appropriate. I am pleased that it was not terminated after the government discontinued the policy banning open air cremations. The judge did not issue any declaratory orders. The Ramsaroop-Persad family should appeal for financial compensation. And there should be a formal apology from the state to the families of deceased who were unable to cremate their loved ones.