Muslim panchayat member performs Hindu man’s last rites in Kerala

A Muslim panchayat member in Kerala's Kasaragod performed the last rites of a Hindu cancer patient after his family declined to claim the body. Her gesture, guided by humanity beyond religious differences, earned widespread praise and admiration across social media and political circles

Kasaragod (Kerala): A Muslim woman panchayat member has performed the last rites of a Hindu man according to his customs in northern Kasaragod after his family declined to claim the body following his death from cancer.

The woman’s gesture has drawn widespread appreciation on social media. The deceased, Narayanan (64), a native of Chigrupadavu in Manjeswaram, died at the Kozhikode Government Medical College Hospital on Thursday after undergoing treatment for advanced-stage cancer for nearly a month.

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Speaking to PTI, Irfana Iqbal, the development chairperson of the Kasaragod district panchayat, said Narayanan was found in a weak and starving condition on the veranda of a shop here about a month ago.

She said the matter was brought to her attention by a ward member. Based on that, she informed the District Collector and the District Medical Officer. She also arranged for providing him with primary care and shifting him to the hospital with the help of volunteers of a charitable foundation, “We had initially planned to shift him to the trust-run old age home. But his health condition was very serious, and he was diagnosed with fourth-stage cancer. So we admitted him to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital,” she said.

After Narayanan died, the local police informed his relatives, but they were unwilling to claim the body, she said. They, however, authorised Iqbal to receive the body and perform the funeral rites.

“We received the body and conducted the final rites at a Hindu crematorium here as per his religious beliefs,” she said. Iqbal herself led the last rites at a Hindu public crematorium in Uppala. The visuals of the purdah-clad panchayat member performing the Hindu funeral rituals soon went viral on social media.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Iqbal said, “No close relative came. I performed Narayanettan’s last rites as a daughter. Humanity is above religion and politics”. She said that she hoped to continue extending support to more abandoned elderly people.

Iqbal also said there was no objection from her community as they used to conduct the last rites of orphaned inmates of the charitable foundation according to their respective faiths.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and Kasaragod Lok Sabha MP Rajmohan Unnithan, on a Facebook post, described Iqbal as “a symbol of a new era in public service and a source of hope”.

Calling her act as opening “a shop of love in the marketplace of hatred”, Unnithan congratulated her for the gesture.