Mohammed Sharif, popularly known as Sharif Chacha, is an Indian bicycle mechanic and social worker from

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. He is known for performing last rites for over 25000 unidentified and unclaimed dead bodies. He was conferred with India's fourth-highest civilian award the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 2020 for his contribution in social work.

Biography

Sharif's eldest son, Mohammed Rais Khan, was murdered in 1992 on his way to Sultanpur. With his unclaimed body lying on the road, it was devoured by stray animals. After this incident, Sharif started performing the last rites of the unidentified dead bodies. He visits police stations, hospitals, railway stations and mortuary for unclaimed bodies. The bodies are handed over to him by police only after nobody claims it for 72 hours. Sharif gives last rites to every unclaimed body as per their religion. He performed last rites of over 25,000 unclaimed bodies in and around

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpo ...

. Though he faced financial difficulties many times, he carried his activities of performing the last rites after collecting donations. He also appeared in ''

Satyamev Jayate Satyameva Jayate (, ) is a part of a ''mantra'' from the Hindu scripture '' Mundaka Upanishad''. Following the independence of India, it was adopted as the national motto of India on 26 January 1950, the day India became a republic. It is inscr ...

''.

Awards

Sharif was conferred with

in 2020 for his contribution in social work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharif, Muhammed Living people People from Faizabad Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Year of birth missing (living people)