Kasaragod, June 27: In a poignant testament to humanity transcending political, religious, and social barriers, a female Muslim League leader step-forwarded to perform the last rites of an abandoned former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activist according to Hindu customs in Kerala’s Kasaragod district.

The deceased, Narayanan Thottathodi (64), a resident of Chigurupade under Meenja Grama Panchayat in Manjeshwar, was a daily wage laborer who had been an active volunteer of the right-wing Hindutva outfit RSS until two decades ago. Suffering from advanced, untreated oral cancer, Narayanan was found critically ill and starving on the veranda of a deserted shop in his village. Spotting his condition, Meenja ward member Sherif Chinal alerted Irfana Iqbal, a Kasaragod District Panchayat member and operator of the Sheikh Zayed Foundation Old Age Home in Uppala.

Irfana and her volunteers rescued Narayanan, cleansed him, and arranged his medical movement to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, where he lost his battle to cancer on Thursday night. Throughout his critical medical phase, Irfana repeatedly contacted his immediate family, including his sister Kamala, his two wives, and children. However, due to past domestic estrangements and violence during his youth, the relatives textually refused to maintain any association or claim his mortal remains post-death, providing written consent authorizing Irfana to manage the body.

Refusing to let a fellow human be denied a dignified departure, Irfana processed the official release from the hospital and brought the body to the Cherugoli public crematorium in Uppala. Standing in the traditional place of a daughter, Irfana Iqbal personally lit the funeral pyre and performed the complete final sacraments in accordance with sacred Hindu rituals. She was assisted at the crematorium by Seva Bharati volunteer Raghu, alongside local social workers Riyas Pilathara and Mehmood Kaikamba. Irfana’s Sheikh Zayed Foundation, which shelters over 50 destitutes, is currently acquiring a 5-acre property to launch India’s largest free 200-bed residential dialysis center.

GangolliNews