RSS song in Vande Bharat : Kerala education dept orders probe; Railways reinstate post after it was deleted
Pointing out that the state government can take down the NOC for a school's functioning if it does not meet stated conditions, irrespective of the board of education, the education minister said a report has been sought from the director of education on the issue.
Ernakulam: The face-off between the BJP and the LDF government over the controversy over ‘Gana Geetham’ took a new twist with Education Minister V Shivankutty saying that the education department will launch an inquiry into schoolchildren singing the RSS song during the inaugural journey of the Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express.
"The principal of the school does not have any right to ask students to sing ‘Rana Geetham’ in a public enterprise transport system. We have ordered an enquiry on the matter. This kind of activities cannot be allowed in a public transport system”, said V Shivankutty.
Pointing out that the state government can take down the NOC for a school’s functioning if it does not meet stated conditions, irrespective of the board of education, the education minister said a report has been sought from the director of education on the issue.
While the matter has taken a political turn, the school authorities said they wish to stay clear of the row but will move legally if required.
Stressing that using children to politicise government programmes for the sake of the communal ideals of a particular group is a violation of constitutional values, Sivankutty also said that weeks of practice may have been done for the purpose. The report will be prepared and submitted within two days, said Director of General Education N S K Umesh.
Meanwhile, the Southern Railways has reinstated the video of the children rendering ‘Rana Geetham’ in the train. The Thiruvananthapuram section of the railways have also posted a video of children from the Saraswati Vidyanikethan speaking about the Vande Bharat express.
The video of the controversial incident was taken down by the Southern Railway from its social media handles, but was reposted on ‘X’ along with the translation of the lyrics the same day. Twenty students from Saraswathi Vidyaniketan, accompanied by two teachers, were among the students from five Kochi schools selected to be a part of the inaugural journey of the new Vande Bharat allotted to Kerala, the school authorities said.