Controversy over former RSS man's funeral: Family's consent letter released to counter BJP's claim

​Kasaragod: The controversy over the cremation of former RSS worker Narayanan Thottathodi (64) refuses to die, with Kasaragod District Panchayat member Irfana Iqbal on Monday releasing police records, family consent letters and hospital documents that she said prove that her foundation, and not Seva Bharati, was entrusted with Narayanan's treatment, custody of his body and funeral after his relatives declined to perform his last rites.

The documents were released at a press conference after BJP Kasaragod district president M L Ashwini accused the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Irfana's party, of trying to derive political mileage from the funeral. Ashwini alleged that Seva Bharati had borne the funeral expenses and conducted the cremation, while Irfana merely projected the event for publicity. 

Narayanan, who had been undergoing treatment for advanced mouth cancer at Kozhikode Medical College for nearly a month, died on June 25. He was cremated the following day at the Rudrabhoomi public crematorium in Meenja panchayat. 

Addressing a press conference, Irfana and her husband, K F Iqbal, managing trustees of the Sheikh Zayed Foundation, said the funeral was only the final chapter in a month-long effort to care for a man who had been abandoned long before his death. According to them, Chigurupade ward member Sherif Chinal alerted Irfana to Narayanan's condition, not just because she represented the Manjeshwar division in the district panchayat but also because she ran the Sheikh Zayed Old Age Home at Uppala, about 7 km away.

"When we reached there, we found a man who had not eaten for seven days," Irfana said. He had advanced mouth cancer and was in no condition to be shifted to an old age home. Foundation volunteers shaved him, bathed him and cleaned him before taking him to Kozhikode Medical College after consulting the District Collector. 

Responding to the BJP's claim that Seva Bharati had taken charge of the funeral, foundation members noted that Chigurupade was a ward where the BJP had secured 315 votes in the 2025 local body election and held the ward in 2015-2020. "If Seva Bharati had been involved from the beginning, why was he left in that condition?" they asked.

The documents released by Irfana include a consent letter written by Narayanan's sister, which states: "When he became seriously ill and was left in a helpless condition, there were no family members or relatives to look after him. The authorities of the Sheikh Zayed Old Age Home and Orphanage admitted him to hospital at their own expense and provided all assistance required for his continued treatment.

Due to our family's severe financial hardship, we are unable to claim his body, bring it home or perform his funeral and post-death rites. We therefore request the Sheikh Zayed Old Age Home and Orphanage to take custody of Narayanan's body and conduct all his funeral and post-death rites."

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Iqbal also disputed claims that Seva Bharati had arranged the ambulance that transported Narayanan's body from Kozhikode to Meenja. "The ambulance belonged to another organisation. We paid Rs 12,000 for it," he said, adding that the foundation contacted the Shree Nithyananda Yoga Ashram, popularly known as Kondevoor Math, after Narayanan's death to ensure the Hindu rites were performed properly.

Kookal Balakrishnan, a director of the foundation, said the organisation had previously conducted the funerals of 12 abandoned people, each time after consulting the ashram. Swami Yogananda Saraswathi of Kondevoor Math is one of the foundation's six chief patrons.

When contacted, Harsha Ail, administrator of the ashram, confirmed that Iqbal had approached him regarding Narayanan's funeral. "I asked Raghu to make the arrangements. Raghu is the local president of Seva Bharati," said Harsha.

Iqbal, however, said Raghu was contacted because he also looked after the Meenja public crematorium. "If Seva Bharati had officially taken over the funeral, there would have been more than one member from the organisation present," he said. Raghu was the only person associated with the Hindu community who attended the funeral.

Harsha said the body, expected around 11 am, reached only around 2 pm, by which time most of those initially present had dispersed. But neither his family nor even a neighbour attended the funeral. 

​Balakrishnan said the controversy had erupted largely because images of a burqa-clad Muslim woman performing the last rites of a former RSS worker had gone viral. "But this is not new for Irfana," he said. "She herself grew up as an orphan, and that shaped her commitment to social work. Whatever the politics around this, the controversy should now end for the sake of social harmony," he added.