Kerala probes RSS anthem row after Vande Bharat flag-off
Kerala probes RSS anthem row after Vande Bharat flag-off
Kerala education officials launch an inquiry into the use of an RSS anthem by schoolchildren at the Vande Bharat Express flag-off, signaling a regulatory turn in the controversy.
The escalating political row over engaging schoolchildren to render the RSS anthem during the Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express flag-off has taken a regulatory turn. General Education Minister V. Sivankutty has tasked the Director of General Education, Kerala, with investigating the episode and reporting any possible violations of the Kerala Educational Act and the Kerala Educational Rules, pushing the dispute into the state government’s juridical arena.
The minister described the episode as placing children at the center of politicized messaging and said it could infringe on the Constitution and children’s rights, including the Right to Education, while breaching official protocol. He questioned the railway’s justification that the children were simply singing their school anthem and noted that the school involved followed the Central syllabus, which does not exempt it from KER rules. The authorities escorted the students to the function during class hours, complicating the issue further.
The incident prompted protests and a mixed response from political parties, with some accusing the move of injecting Hindutva symbolism into a state function. In response, the Southern Railway posted a video of the rendition on social media and later removed it, drawing attention to how the event was framed and shared publicly.
The government’s move underscores ongoing sensitivity around symbols at state functions and the delicate balance between national unity and constitutional principles. Kerala’s Chief Minister condemned the incident as a violation of constitutional principles, while critics argued it diverted attention from the ceremony itself. The forthcoming inquiry will assess whether the event violated regulations governing school participation in official programs and whether conducting this during school hours exposed students to political theatre. The findings could set a precedent for how education authorities manage similar incidents in the future.
Cover image source: RSS song on train triggers protest; row unwarranted, says BJP 🔗
