Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday lambasted the Southern Railway for allegedly making students sing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Gana Geetham during the inauguration of the Ernakulam – Bengaluru Vande Bharat train service.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, Chief Minister Vijayan said the act of the Southern Railway, which made students sing the RSS Gana Geetham during the inauguration of the Ernakulam – Bengaluru Vande Bharat service, is extremely protestable.
“The inclusion of the RSS song, which constantly spreads hatred against other religions and communal divisive politics, in the official program of the government is a violation of constitutional principles,” he further said.
CM Vijayan claimed that such actions undermine the secular character of government events. “The inauguration ceremony of Vande Bharat witnessed the sneaking of extreme Hindutva politics,” he said
“It is unacceptable that the Sangh Parivar is using even the country’s largest public sector enterprise, the Railways, for their communal political propaganda. By sharing this Gana Geet on social media with the caption ‘a patriotic song’, the Southern Railway not only made a mockery of itself but also mocked the Indian national movement.
“The Railways, which served as the cornerstone of India’s secular nationalism during the freedom struggle, are now supporting the communal agenda of the RSS, which betrayed the freedom struggle,” he added.
The incident took place during the local ceremony held at Ernakulam South railway station, one of several events organised nationwide to mark the virtual inauguration of four new Vande Bharat trains by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi.
It has been reported that the students who sang the Gana Geetham were part of the inaugural journey of the train.
The video, posted by Southern Railway on its official X handle, quickly drew attention and triggered backlash online. Following the backlash, Southern Railway removed images of the students singing the song from its social media accounts.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Union Ministers Suresh Gopi and George Kurian, Kerala Industries Minister P. Rajeev, Ernakulam MP Hybi Eden and others attended the function held at the Ernakulam south South railway station.