Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has warned “secular democratic forces” against the Sangh Parivar’s alleged attempt to “alter the history of the Indian Independence movement.”
Inaugurating the 35th State Conference of the Students Federation of India (SFI) here on Wednesday (February 19, 2025), Mr. Vijayan said that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its affiliates in power at the Centre were “rewriting history textbooks to obscure its founding ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s embarrassing kowtowing to the colonial powers.”
He accused the RSS of indoctrinating the masses with a false historical narrative about Hindutva forces and their past.
“The Independence movement was broad-based and secular, drawing lakhs of people from different faiths, castes, regions, and languages. The Hindutva leadership wrote to the British viceroy in India that it wanted the colonialists to remain at the country’s helm,” he said.
“The RSS’ ideological lodestar, Savarkar, betrayed the Independence movement and freedom fighters by agreeing to work for colonial interests in reciprocation for early release from the infamous Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar,” he said.
Mr. Vijayan said the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have “lionised such turncoats.” He urged the State’s progressive student community to resist attempts to saffronise the education sector.
‘Path of agitation and self-sacrifice’
Mr. Vijayan stated that numerous SFI activists had lost their lives due to the actions of Sangh Parivar forces, Opposition parties, and organisations such as the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
“Nevertheless, the SFI has not harmed any political opponent nor plotted murders. Instead, the SFI has walked the path of relentless agitation and self-sacrifice to protect students’ interests”, he added.
Hundreds of SFI students held a rally at the conference’s venue at Central Stadium.
