Seraj Anwar/Patna

At 77, Haji Kamaruddin not only daringly ferried at least 100 bodies of the Covid dead persons to the cemeteries but also saw the helplessness of human beings in front of the deadly disease.

Haji Kamaruddin was recently honoured by Imarat-e-Shariah for his services during the Covid-19 pandemic. He works as an ambulance driver with Maulana Sajjad Memorial Hospital of the Imarat-e-Shariah in Patna.

The hospital honoured him for his spirit of carrying on with his work and helping people in distress in total disregard to the risk to his health. Receiving the award, Kamaruddin said, "I have seen humanity dying very closely."

Kamaruddin is probably the first  ambulance driver to be honoured as Covid- warrior by an employer across India.

In a period where there were instances of families disposing of the bodies of their Covid-dead family members by dumping them in shallow graves or in the rivers for the fear of contracting the virus, Kamarudding carried the sick to the hospital and the dead to their homes and the graveyards.

Maulana Sajjad memorial Hospital, Patna

In a conversation with Awaz-The Voice, Kamaruddin spoke about an incident of last year. An ambulance of Bhawan-e-Sharia was called in Jamun Gali of the Sabzibagh locality of Patna for carrying the body of a Covid-dead Khurshid to the cemetery for burial.

When he reached there, he saw that two small children trying to bathe the body for preparing it for the burial. The rest of the people simply watched the heart-rendering scene from a distance. He carried the body and buried it in the Shahganj cemetery.

Speaking of his experiences, Kamaruddin says, the current wave is more frightening.” I had never seen such shocking scenes in my whole life,” he said.

Referring to another incident, he says, "A person died in the boring Road of Patna. When he reached there to take the dead body to the cemetery, it was a painful scene. The daughter was trying alone to lift the body of her father into the coffin. I helped her.”

He buried the body in Kuwan cemetery. There too people stayed away from the funeral. All the relatives were standing away and he somehow managed to lower the coffin in the grave. Similarly, a person from Patna was buried without a ritual bath. The body was sent wrapped in a shroud straight from the hospital to the Chitkohra cemetery. No one from the family of the deceased was ready to take the body to the graveyard.

 He buried it with the help of a few others.

The Imarat-e-Shariah hospital provided medical services to people during the Covid-19 pandemic waves. The hospital's ambulances are constantly engaged in transporting patients to the hospital and the dead bodies to the graveyards. The hospital has three ambulances and Haji Kamaruddin is always ready to be of help any time of the day or even night.

Haji Kamruddin was given a cash award and a citation. Besides, two other drivers Haji Waqar Hussain and Amir Hussain were also honoured

Maulana Shibli, the chief administrator of the hospital, told Awaaz-The Voice “Haji Maulana Sajjad Memorial Hospital of the Imarat-e-Shariah in Patna. took the patients to the hospital at a time where nothing was in order. Carrying the dead bodies to the graveyard and then lowering them in the graves, never complained and it is commendable.”

Haji Kamaruddin says that while carrying the patient and the corpse, he got tired many times and he thought of quitting. Then after remembering Allah, he kept on serving the people.