BJP claims Seva Bharati, not Muslim League leader, funded former RSS worker's funeral; facts differ

Kasaragod: The BJP has sought to recast the story of a former RSS worker who died abandoned by his family, claiming his relatives refused to claim the body only because they could not afford the funeral. But at the same time, the party claimed that the funeral expenses were borne by Seva Bharati, the social service wing of the RSS. The claim, made by BJP Kasaragod district president M L Ashwini, sits uneasily with the sequence of events leading up to the funeral.

Narayanan Thottathodi (64), a former RSS worker from Chigurupade in Meenja grama panchayat, spent his final weeks battling advanced oral cancer after being rescued from the veranda of an abandoned shop, where he had allegedly gone without food for seven days.

It was Kasaragod District Panchayat member Irfana Iqbal and volunteers of her NGO, the Sheikh Zayed Foundation, who found him in a skeletal condition, shaved him, bathed him, cleaned him up and arranged his admission to Kozhikode Medical College after coordinating with the district administration.
According to Irfana, the foundation repeatedly contacted Narayanan's family during his treatment. His sister, two wives and children all declined to take responsibility for him. After his death, Manjeshwaram police again informed the family. They still refused to claim the body.

Instead, Narayanan's two wives, children and sister signed written consent authorising Irfana to take custody of the body and perform his funeral.
Standing in the place of his daughter, the Muslim League leader lit his funeral pyre and performed the last rites according to Hindu customs at the Cherugoli public crematorium.

In a statement issued on Saturday, however, Ashwini attributed the family's decision to poverty. "The family was financially weak and could not bear the funeral expenses. That is why they handed over the body to the people's representative," she said. Ashwini further claimed that Seva Bharati bore the funeral expenses and led the funeral.

However, neither the RSS nor Seva Bharati has claimed that it organised or financed the funeral. On the other hand, the Sheikh Zayed Foundation said that it bore the entire cost of transporting Narayanan's body from Kozhikode and the funeral. Foundation officials also point out that the family authorised Irfana, not Seva Bharati, to take custody of the body and complete the cremation. "If Seva Bharati was conducting the funeral, why did the family execute the consent letter in Irfana's name?" asked a foundation official. Moreover, only one member of Seva Bharati attended the funeral, said the foundation.

The foundation said Narayanan's case was not an exception for it. Earlier, when another resident, Peter, died at the old age home, Irfana arranged and paid for his funeral, ensuring he was buried at a church in Manjeshwar.

Ashwini's own statement also acknowledges that Irfana performed the funeral, arguing instead that "it is the responsibility of elected representatives to ensure the funeral of abandoned or unclaimed bodies."
She nevertheless accused the Muslim League of exploiting the incident politically and "attempting to create divisions within the Hindu community".

The episode had drawn widespread attention after photographs emerged of a Muslim woman public representative wearing a burqa performing the Hindu last rites of a former RSS worker. So far, no other political party or organisation has publicly characterised Irfana's actions as an attempt to create communal divisions. The IUML, too, did not release any statement on the funeral.