Published Jun 28, 2026 | 3:23 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 28, 2026 | 3:26 PM
Irfana Iqbal performed performed Narayanan's last rites according to Hindu traditions.
Synopsis: When a former RSS worker from Kerala died after a battle with cancer, his family refused to claim his body, leaving a Muslim League leader to perform his last rites according to Hindu traditions. Days later, however, the BJP sought to downplay the act, which garnered widespread praise on social media, accusing the IUML of politicising the issue and sowing divisions.
When 64-year-old Narayanan Thottathodi, a former RSS member from Kerala’s Kasaragod, succumbed to a lengthy battle with cancer last week, it was not his own kin who shouldered the responsibility of performing his last rites. Instead, it was a Muslim woman who ensured he received a dignified farewell.
A daily-wage labourer from Chigurupade in Meenja grama panchayat of Manjeshwar taluk, Narayanan’s two wives, children and sister refused to claim his body. Instead, Irfana Iqbal—an Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader, Kasaragod district panchayat member and founder of the Sheikh Zayed Foundation—performed his last rites according to Hindu traditions.
Days later, however, the BJP has sought to downplay the significance of the moment, which resonated with many both within the state and beyond, accusing the IUML of politicising the incident and attempting to create communal divisions.
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Narayanan Thottathodi had once been an active RSS worker before stepping away from the organisation nearly two decades ago.
About a month ago, he was found lying critically ill on the veranda of an abandoned shop. Chigurupade ward member Sherif Chinal contacted Irfana Iqbal, who manages the Sheikh Zayed Old Age Home in Uppala through the Sheikh Zayed Foundation.
Narayanan Thottathodi
“I went there thinking we could admit him to our old-age home. But he was in a condition that needed immediate medical treatment,” Irfana told South First.
She said Narayanan had not eaten for seven days and was suffering from advanced oral cancer.
Volunteers from the foundation shaved him, bathed him, cleaned him and shifted him to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, where he underwent treatment for nearly a month.
Throughout his stay, however, Irfana and her team repeatedly contacted his family. According to Irfana, his sister, two wives and children all declined to take responsibility for him.
Narayanan died on the night of Thursday, 25 June. No family member came forward to claim his body. Instead, they submitted written consent authorising Irfana to take custody of the body and perform his last rites.
His body was later taken to the Cherugoli public crematorium in Uppala, where Irfana stood in the place of a daughter and lit the funeral pyre as Hindu rituals were performed.
“He should not have died this way. He only needed someone to care for him,” she told South First.
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After the incident drew praise online, Kasaragod BJP district president ML Ashwini sought to downplay the moment and claimed that Narayanan’s family had refused to claim his body only because they could not afford the funeral expenses.
She further claimed that Seva Bharati had borne the cost of the cremation.
ML Ashwini
According to Irfana, however, Narayanan’s family had repeatedly declined to care for him during his treatment and later gave written consent authorising her to take custody of the body and perform the funeral.
The Sheikh Zayed Foundation maintains that it bore the entire cost of transporting the body and conducting the funeral. It has also questioned why Narayanan’s family authorised Irfana to take custody of the body instead of Seva Bharati if the organisation had indeed taken charge of the cremation.
Ashwini also accused the Indian Union Muslim League of politicising the incident and attempting to create communal divisions, even while acknowledging that Irfana had performed the funeral.
Irfana says what happened that day was nothing extraordinary at the Sheikh Zayed Foundation.
Speaking to South First, she explained that the foundation has long worked across religious lines.
“The Sheikh Zayed Foundation has three trustees. One of them is Kondayoor Nithyananda Swamiji. The others include a church priest and Panakkad Thangal. For years, all of us have worked together cordially.
Whenever a Hindu inmate at our old-age home dies, we seek Swamiji’s help. He arranges everything—from the cremation to the rituals and poojas. Likewise, when a Christian inmate dies, we seek the help of the priest associated with us.
Every human being, irrespective of religion, deserves respectful last rites, and we ensure that.”
The Sheikh Zayed Old Age Home currently shelters around 50 abandoned elderly people. The foundation has also acquired five acres in Uppala to establish what it hopes will become India’s largest free residential dialysis centre, with 200 dialysis machines.
“It is not the BJP or Seva Bharati that arranges these ceremonies. It is Swamiji who has always coordinated everything. Earlier, some local RSS activists also used to cooperate with us, but that association has reduced over time. We informed Swamiji about this issue as well. He says the pressure from the BJP has increased,” she said.
“Every Hindu is not BJP or Seva Bharati. I don’t know why the BJP is trying to claim this. This was a simple act of humanity. We didn’t do this for headlines. We have been doing this long before this incident went viral.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
