MOHAMMED SHARIF – THE MAN WHO PROVIDES DIGNITY AND RESPECT TO THE DEAD

An 84-year-old Indian social worker and bicycle mechanic from Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, Mohammed Sharif, popularly known as Sharif Chacha (Good Uncle) has performed the last rites for over twenty-five thousand unidentified and unclaimed dead bodies so far.

Sharif Chacha’s philosophy of dead bodies needing a decent burial has won him accolades from all over the country. His approach is not biased toward any caste, creed or religion. He not only cremated and buries the bodies of Christians and Muslims, but also arranged for the burial grounds and cremation rituals for Hindus, Sikhs and other religions.

After all, whatever makes a person go to this extent of providing service to mankind has to be a larger-than-life purpose. Sharif Chacha’s story is heart-wrenching.

His eldest son, Mohammed Rais Khan, was murdered in 1992 while he was on his way to Sultanpur. Unfortunately, his body was not claimed and it was lying for hours on the road. Eventually, with no one to report it to the police to take care of it, it was devoured by wild animals. This incident had a deep impact on Sharif Chacha. On one end, he had to deal with the sorrow and death of his son, on the other hand, he was deeply saddened to see the negligence and indifference of people. While he could not bring his son back to life, Sharif Chacha decided that at least he would not have any dead body leave the planet without getting a decent farewell.

Without wasting any time, Sharif Chacha made his intent clear to all the local authorities who were both moved by his plight but could not help but appreciate his extraordinary effort. Sharif Chacha started visiting local hospitals, police stations, railway stations and mortuaries for unclaimed bodies. If the dead body was not claimed for 72 hours, it would be handed over to Sharif Chacha who would then arrange for the last rites to be performed. He first waits for a certain period of time during which he tries his best to contact the family members and the relatives of the deceased, however, if there is no response or nobody turns up to claim the body, only then does he proceed with his task.

Initially, people did not pay much attention to his silent man with a noble cause thinking that it will be over pretty soon. However, as time passed by, Sharif Chacha’s intent became only stronger. Word of mouth spread. The local NGOs also took notice of the great work that Sharif Chacha was doing without expecting any rewards or recognition in return. Eventually, he was recognised by local people, community helpers, doctors, NGOs and police on duty, and slowly people came forward to support him in his benevolent cause. Few charity organisations organised rallies and awareness programmes and the money gathered from such events was donated to Sharif Chacha’s cause.

Sharif Chacha works as a bicycle mechanic during the day and with the little amount he manages, he tries to take care of his family and spare some for his purpose in life.

Despite facing several hardships and almost on the line of poverty, Sharif Chacha has never ceased or digressed from his call of life. For him, no person is a Muslim, Hindu, Christian or Sikh. For him, everyone is a human being first and that is how they must be respected and treated.

He appeared in the acclaimed TV show, Satyamev Jayte (Truth Prevails) conducted by popular actor Aamir Khan. People were literally moved to tears after hearing his story and unbiased approach to serving the community. To date, he has given over 25,000 dead bodies a decent burial.

For his relentless and extraordinary effort and social work, the President of India conferred the prestigious Padma Shri award on Sharif Chacha in 2020.

Credits and suggested further reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Sharif

https://toknows.in/sharif-chacha-the-unsung-hero-from-uttar-pradesh-india/

https://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/up-s-last-rites-samaritan-padmi-shri-awardee-chacha-sharif-is-an-inspiration-for-humanity/