"We have cremated more bodies than official figures," members of Rising Youth Society while receiving felicitation in Silchar

On July 16, Cachar district recorded it’s first official covid death and since then members of the Rising Youth Society have been cremating dead bodies.

Officially, that number is close to 70 but Pinak Roy and his associates have infact cremated more than a hundred such dead bodies. On the year end, prominent organiser and businessman Chandan Sharma organised a function to felicitate them in the evening.

Notable people of the city took part in it and everyone praised the work done by the members of the Rising Youth Society during covid pandemic and promised to stand by them.

Former principal of Gurucharan College Partha Sarathi Chanda; President of District Sports Association Babul Hore; Doctor Siddhartha Bhattacharjee and many other guests were present on the occasion. The guests handed over various gifts and certificates in recognition of the work done by the members of the Rising Youth Society.

Speaking about their experience, member of the Rising Youth Society, Pinak Roy said, “On a rainy night in a deep forest, we burned the body of an unknown person who died due to coronavirus. We didn’t know who he was or how to cremate his dead body. Before we reached the area, four Muslim youths were given the task of arranging the ashes. They had never cremated a Hindu man before yet they arranged the place where Narayan Mitra was cremated. We have had many such examples of humanity shown by people in our long journey. At one time, the people of our area did not allow our members to enter their houses. One of our members was attacked with sharp weapons as he was bringing medicine for his ailing mother at home. We had to cremate rotten corpses and did not visit our family members living in the city for months. We realised so many things in our long journey that I can go on for hours speaking about it but still it won’t end. Many more dead bodies have been cremated by us than reported officially by the health authorities. Yet even after so many difficulties, our perception was that we were able to stand by the side of those unknown people at their difficult times. We will treasure these memories till the last days of our life.”

Pinak and his team have future plans to cremate the dead bodies of poor people, not just the ones who died due to coronavirus. Usually youngsters are not seen taking such decisions and it is an out of the box thinking.

Speaking at the felicitation ceremony held for Rising Youth Society Members, Chandan Sharma said, “When we were locked up at our homes to avoid contracting the coronavirus during lockdown, these youths were cremating dead bodies of people dying due to covid with their own hands which is scary to even to think of. They cremated corpses of unknown people and yet faced untoward incidents in the society. They were harassed by the people of their neighborhood for visiting their mother. At this young age, only people with a big heart can make such a noble sacrifice. We did not have the strength to stand by them then but I am with them today. By honouring them we actually honoured ourselves by giving them their due recognition.”

“Even after many years, when we will discuss the covid pandemic situation, these young men will still shine brightly in our minds then,” Parthasarathi Chanda said.