RSS song on train triggers protest; row unwarranted, 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 triggered protests even as the BJP defended the performance by a group of students during the maiden journey of the train.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the Railways’ act of using students for propagating the Sangh Parivar’s communal agenda was illegal and anti-democratic. “What was seen at the inauguration of the Vande Bharat service was a continuation of the Sangh Parivar’s narrow-minded politics 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) took out a protest march in the city on Saturday alleging that the flag-off ceremony was saffronised with the RSS song, a video of which was posted on the Southern Railway’s social media handles. The video was deleted later as it kicked off a controversy. The protesters carried a copy of the Constitution and rendered the national anthem. DYFI State secretariat member and district secretary A.R. Renjith inaugurated the protest meet.

Meanwhile, former BJP State president K. Surendran said the controversy was unwarranted. “The stand that a patriotic song should not be rendered by anyone just because RSS workers have sung it is unacceptable. The students were not compelled by anyone to sing the song. The objection to patriotic songs at a government function is not proper,” he said. He was speaking at a session held as part of the Kochi International Book Fair.