In times when the air hangs heavy with the din of communal hatred and the nation seems splitting along the lines of religion, this man makes you feel otherwise.
Barely a few miles from Ayodhya, the epicentre of Hindu-Muslim conflict in India, Mohd Shareef, an octogenarian cycle mechanic, has been silently ensuring dignity in death for Hindus and Muslims alike.
For the past 25 years, Shareef chacha, as he is popularly known, performs last rites of unclaimed dead bodies in Faizabad. So far, he claims to have buried and cremated around 4,000 unclaimed bodies. And he doesn’t even take any money from the police department, which anyway has a very small budget for this purpose.
“I get the body 72 hours after the autopsy. And when I take over the body, I also take it in writing from the police that I did not take any monetary help from the department to perform the last rites,” said Mohd Shareef.
One wonders what could be the motivation for him to do this seemingly ‘odd job’. Well, it was a personal tragedy that brought out the redeemer in him. “I lost my young son, Raees, in 1992. I kept looking for him for around a month but to no avail. Later I got to know that his decomposed body was found stuffed in a gunny bag. I don’t know if he was murdered or he died in some accident. The police told me that his body was beyond recognition and could be identified only by the tailor’s tag on the neck of his shirt. I did not even get to see his body,” said Shareef chacha.
Summing up his emotions, he added, “My son may not have got that, but everyone should get due respect in death. I don’t see a body as that of a Hindu or Muslim. I see the body as that of my son. I do this to ensure that there is dignity in death. No parent should experience what I did.”
But no matter how good a cause he has taken up, it still requires money. “Cremating a body costs around three to four thousand rupees while burying it costs around six thousand rupees,” said Shareef, adding, “On an average, I perform last rites of around a dozen bodies each month.”
So with no institutional support or consistent flow of money, one wonders how he manages to do what he has been doing for over two decades.
Mohd Shareef digging a grave
“Sab ooparwaala karaa deta hai. Aaj bhi acche log bahut hain duniya me. Madad ho hi jaati hai. (God gets it all done. We still have good people around. They help and I manage.),”said Shareef with a smile of satisfaction. But he explained, “It is largely through donations. People help me in kind as well. Some buys me shrouds, some buys be firewood, at times I get things done free-of-cost, and at times at nominal charges. So it all gets managed. I also have a small cycle repair shop and I use my earnings from the shop as well. I don’t worry much.”
He acknowledges it is tough. In fact he claims his age has also added to the costs. “Earlier, when I was healthier, I used to physically do most of the work. But now I am very weak. Also, over the years, the costs have spiralled too much, so it is tough but Allah takes care,” he said.
When asked if he gets any government help, he said, “I do not expect the government to help because all I have got from successive governments is a heap of hollow promises. Allah is getting it done and I am doing it.” But he makes it a point to talk about his recent experience with the District Magistrate (DM) of Faizabad. “The DM appreciated my work and said a government may come and go, but my work will outlast it all. He even talked about giving me a house, but sadly the location is very far off and is on the city outskirts. But nonetheless, I appreciate it.”
Acknowledging that Shareef Chacha does not get any monetary support from the administration, DM Faizabad, Vivek, who goes with just his first name, said, “We ensure that he gets all the administrative support in order to make sure that his noble work is done smoothly.” When asked if Mohd Shareef can benefit from any welfare scheme, the DM said, “The Social Welfare Department has several schemes which may benefit him. We’ll have to explore. I’ll see to it that he gets some help.” The DM however did not talk about any promise of offering an accommodation to Mohd Shareef.
The administration may not have helped him, but Shoulder-to-Shoulder, a Lucknow-based citizen's group that works for communal harmony put together an online fundraiser for Shareef. It is almost halfway through the target of raising Rs 1 lakh. Before Eid, Shareef was handed over around Rs 60,000 raised so far and he was delighted. “I am so happy. It is because good people like these that I am managing to serve god. May god bless you,” said the good Samaritan who has even been featured in Aamir Khan’s very-popular show Satyamev Jayate.
When asked if he ever gets worried about who will do this once he is gone, he said, “If Allah wants to get it done, some other Shareef will be born to do it.”
