India's communal tensions ease amidst pandemic

COLOMBO (News1st): India, located 18 nautical miles off Sri Lanka's northern tip has united amidst the coronavirus pandemic after widespread communal tensions, setting a precedent for other nations, foreign reports suggest. Communal tensions in India worsened after a mass gathering of Muslim religious preachers, in its northern city of Delhi, was blamed for the spike in its coronavirus cases. However, the pandemic seems to have bonded communities as "many of these men have offered to donate plasma for serious COVID-19 patients," an Indian media website said in an article. "...the men who had participated in the gathering are now a ray of hope for people of Delhi in their fight against the lethal virus". India had been witnessing a wave of protests due to its new citizenship law since December, which some claimed could lead to the disenfranchisement of millions of Muslims. However, in a pleasing turn of events, the body of a Hindu woman was carried by her Muslim neighbours to a cremation ground in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, due to lack of vehicles amidst a lockdown, reports show. Sri Lanka witnessed communal tensions in the aftermath of last year's April 21st terrorist attacks, but critics say that the communal rift in the country has widened after the government made cremation of COVID-19 victims compulsory. Minority communities in the country have petitioned court stating that the order is a violation of human rights and that it goes against their religious practices.