"Fascist style of functioning": Binoy Viswam slams BJP on RSS song at Vande Bharat event

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], November 10 (ANI): Communist Party of India (CPI) State Secretary Binoy Viswam on Monday condemned the alleged singing of an RSS "Gana Geetham" during the inauguration of the Ernakulam-Bengaluru Vande Bharat Express.
Viswam accused the BJP-led central government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of promoting a "fascist style of functioning" and attempting to "infiltrate their ideology" into official events.
Speaking to ANI in Thiruvananthapuram, Binoy Viswam said, "...RSS and BJP are trying to conquer everything and everyone... The fascist style of functioning is being implemented by the RSS BJP government... It's a pure government function of the Southern Railways... But they tried to infiltrate the RSS ideology and the RSS song into that function."
"The country cannot be silent about this... The Communist Party criticised what they did in the name of the inauguration. We condemn it and say, as loudly as we can, that what they did was an attempt to smuggle in something that is not our national anthem. It is a big mistake and a crime," he said.

A day earlier, Kerala's General Education Minister V Sivankutty ordered an inquiry into the controversy surrounding the alleged singing of the RSS "Gana Geetham" by students during the inauguration ceremony.
According to the minister, the government views the incident with utmost seriousness. The Director of General Education has been instructed to submit a report immediately.
The minister stated that using students to promote political or communal agendas during government events amounts to a violation of constitutional principles. The inquiry will examine whether there were lapses in involving students in an official function and whether the platform was misused for political or ideological purposes.
"Protecting the secular national values of the country is the responsibility of the government, and we will ensure that," Sivankutty said. Based on the inquiry report, further action will be taken, he added. (ANI)