Kerala govt orders probe into children singing RSS song onboard newly inaugurated Vande Bharat

Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala government on Sunday ordered a probe into the reported act of the Southern Railway making school students sing an RSS song onboard the newly inaugurated Vande Bharat Express from Ernakulam to Bengaluru.

General Education Minister V Sivankutty instructed the Director of Public Instructions (DPI) to conduct inquiry and submit a report in this regard. In a statement issued by the minister's office, Sivankutty said the government views the incident with utmost seriousness.

Politicisng children at government events and using them to promote the communal agenda of any particular group is a violation of constitutional principles, he said.

"The Director of Public Instructions (DPI) has been directed to immediately conduct an inquiry and submit a report," he said.

The inquiry would examine whether there were any lapse in making students participate in the official event, he said adding that appropriate further action would be taken based on the findings in the report.

The government has a responsibility to uphold the secular and national values of the country and steps will be taken to ensure that these principles are protected, Sivankutty added.

However, Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Sunday justified the students singing RSS song onboard the newly inaugurated train. It was part of the innocent celebration of children, he told reporters in Thrissur.

"They felt to sing that song at the moment and they did so. Anyway, it's not an extremist song," the union mister of state for petroleum, natural gas and tourism added.

The probe ordered by the state government and the justification of the union minister came a day after the singing of an RSS song by a group of school students onboard the newly inaugurated Vande Bharat Express had drawn sharp reactions in Kerala.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday condemned the reported act of the Southern Railway saying that it deserves to be protested.

He had said that including the song of the RSS, which allegedly constantly spreads anti-religious hatred and communal divisive politics, in the official programme of the government is a violation of constitutional principles.

Sangh Parivar using the country's largest public sector undertaking, the Railways, for spreading their alleged communal political propaganda is unacceptable, the CM had said.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, had also spoken on the same lines and said that making students sing the RSS song as part of a government programme was "illegal and undemocratic".

He alleged that the BJP was trying to implement the politics of division as seen in north India, in Kerala.

The Southern Railway had earlier reportedly withdrew the social media post following widespread criticism against it.

On later Sunday, the Southern Railway again posted on social media platform 'X' the video of the song by the students along with its English translation.

"The students of Saraswathi Vidyalaya beautifully performed their school song during the inaugural run of the Ernakulam Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express," it had said in the 'X' post.