Terrorists’ bodies: Not in a Muslim graveyard

Sarfaraz Arzoo, general secretary of the Council, said: “The terrorists’ acts are un-Islamic. In name they are Muslims, but not in their actions.

In a strong gesture of rejection, the Muslim Council of India issued letters to the Jama Masjid Trust and the Mumbai Police demanding that the nine bodies of the terrorists should not be buried in the Badakabrastan cemetery at Marine Lines.

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Sarfaraz Arzoo, general secretary of the Council, said: “The terrorists’ acts are un-Islamic. In name they are Muslims, but not in their actions. Thus, we do not want them to be buried in a Muslim burial ground.”

He added that the police have assured the Council that their demand will be considered.

The Council’s view is supported by South Asia’s holiest Muslim shrine, Ajmer Sharif.

Said Syed Salman Chishty, a khadim (hereditary custodian) at the shrine: “The terrorists are like the Munafiqin (Hypocrites) described in the Holy Qur’an, who pretended to be Muslim only to accomplish their own agenda. Let the Mumbai Police send these bodies to Pakistan if they wish. They should not lie in a Muslim burial ground.”

However, Hanif Nalkhande, a trustee of the Jama Masjid Trust that manages the 7.5-acre Mumbai graveyard, the only one in the city for unclaimed bodies, said: “The government (has) stated that the bodies will be buried in an undisclosed location
outside Mumbai.”

To this, Arzoo responded, “It is the police’s prerogative where to bury the bodies as long as it’s not in the Muslim burial grounds under our jurisdiction. Let them keep the location a secret.”

A policeman from the J.J Marg station, whose officers are on security duty at the J.J Morgue where the bodies are presently kept, said that they have not received orders yet to bury the terrorists.