RSS song on train provokes protest; row baseless, says BJP

The rendition of a song associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on board the Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express on Saturday (November 8) drew sharp political criticism and led to protests even as the BJP defended the actions of a group of students during the train’s maiden voyage.

Opposition Leader VD Satheesan said the railways’ use of students to promote the Sangh Parivar’s communal agenda was illegal and anti-democratic. “What we saw at the inauguration of the Vande Bharat service was a continuation of the Sangh Parivar’s narrow-minded policy of making political gains by dividing people over religion and caste,” the Congress leader said.

The Ernakulam district committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held a protest march in the city on Saturday and alleged that the flag-raising ceremony was being saffronized with the RSS song, a video of which was posted on the Southern Railway’s social media. The video was later removed as it sparked a controversy. The demonstrators carried a copy of the constitution and sang the national anthem. Member of DYFI state secretariat and district secretary AR Renjith inaugurated the protest meeting.

Meanwhile, former BJP state president K. Surendran said the controversy was baseless. “The stand that no one should perform a patriotic song just because RSS workers sang it is unacceptable. The students were not forced by anyone to sing the song. The objection to patriotic songs at a government function is not correct,” he said. He was speaking at a session held as part of the Kochi International Book Fair.