The pick-up from local Sri Lankan media and hardline Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalists was so extensive that it prompted a response from the UAE’s embassy in Colombo. “It is shocking that this news item has been manipulated and maliciously interpreted […] in a manner that could incite racism towards the Muslims of Sri Lanka,” said an official statement published on 6 April.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/coronavirus/2020/04/20/Coronavirus-Muslims-in-Sri-Lanka-forced-to-cremate-dead-stigmatized-under-lockdown