‘Govt takes it seriously’: Kerala orders probe into RSS song row on Vande Bharat

The Kerala government has ordered a probe into the controversy over the singing of an RSS song by a group of school students onboard the newly inaugurated Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express train.

 

State Education Minister V. Sivankutty said the government views the incident with utmost seriousness, adding that the Director of General Education has been instructed to submit a report soon.

 

The probe will examine whether there were lapses in involving students in an official function and whether the platform was misused for political or ideological purposes. 

 

Using students to promote political or communal agendas during government events amounts to a violation of constitutional principles, the minister said.

 

"Protecting the secular national values of the country is the responsibility of the government, and we will ensure that.”

 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier condemned the incident, saying the inclusion of the song of an organisation known for its "communal ideology" in an official event is a violation of constitutional principles. 

 

“By sharing the video on its social media handles, the railway authorities have exposed how eminent national institutions are being subverted by Sangh Parivar politics. Once a proud symbol of India's secular nationalism, the Railways is now being used to sneak communal ideology into official functions,” he said.

 

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly, V.D. Satheesan, too lambasted the incident and said making students sing the RSS song as part of a government programme was "illegal and undemocratic".

 

"Just as it uses constitutional institutions, including the Election Commission, for political purposes, the central government is now using the Indian Railways for communal propaganda," he said.

 

The Southern Railway had earlier deleted the video from its X page, but later re-posted it with a clarification that the students had sung their “school song”. It also shared an English translation of the song.

India