Christmas celebrations in Kerala schools caught in the Sangh Parivar’s crosshairs, says government

Kerala’s Education Minister V. Sivankutty said Christmas celebrations in schools have found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the Sangh Parivar. 

Mr. Sivankutty flagged incidents of school managements calling off Christmas celebrations under pressure, allegedly from Hindu far-right groups owing allegiance to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He said certain schools had returned money collected from students for the celebrations under threat from Hindutva groups in the RSS-Sangh Parivar’s orbit of influence. 

Mr. Sivankutty noted that Hindu far-right social media groups targeted Christians by urging educational institutions to desist from celebrating Christmas or face unspecified consequences. 

“Several parents, students, and teachers complained to me. The government is treating the matter very seriously. Action is underway against school managements, which abandoned Christmas celebrations under threats from the RSS, he said.” 

Mr. Sivankutty accused the RSS and its affiliates of seeking to expel the religious observances and celebrations of Christian and Muslim minorities from Kerala’s cultural life. “The RSS is seeking to intertwine State holidays with religion to create communal schisms in society. It has zeroed in on Kerala’s schools, erroneously reckoning they are soft targets for their divisive purposes, he said. 

Mr. Sivankutty accused the RSS of attempting to replicate its “North Indian” model of othering minorities in Kerala by threatening the police and disrupting their celebrations. However, the Sangh Parivar gambit will not pass muster in Kerala. 

Mr. Sivankutty said government and private schools operate under the Kerala Educational Rules (KER). Moreover, schools are bound to uphold Constitutional values. “The government will resist any attempt to transform schools into stifling compartments of religious segregation by banning celebrations frowned upon by the RSS or any fundamentalist group, he said. 

Mr. Sivankutty noted that Kerala celebrated Christmas, Onam and Bakrid with equal zeal. “Academics should go beyond books. Imbibing secular and democratic values at a young age lays the ground for a humane, plural, progressive and secular society. School education should inspire students achieve such higher goals in life,” he said. 

Mr. Sivankutty said Kerala had a glorious legacy of assimilating diverse cultures and traditions without questioning them, and called for a broader ideological battle against the RSS.