RSS Gana Geetham in Vande Bharat: Students face cyberattack

KOCHI: The Saraswathi Vidyanikethan School in Ernakulam has strongly condemned the cyberattacks that started after its students sang an RSS Gana Geetham, described as a patriotic song, during the first trip of the Ernakulam–Bengaluru Vande Bharat train.

According to the school, students are being attacked on social media and in news reports using the train footage, ignoring all child rights, simply because they sang “Paramapavithramathaamee mannil Bharathambaye poojikkan.”

Principal K.P. Dinto said the school will take strict legal action if the online abuse continues. He also questioned why the Education Minister had ordered a probe against students for singing a patriotic song.

Dinto clarified that when the students’ song was removed from the official X account, the school sent a complaint to the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister, including an English translation of the song. The Railways later reposted the video along with the translation. He added that during a news channel’s request, the students first sang Vande Mataram, and when asked for a Malayalam song, they performed “Paramapavithramathaamee mannil…”, which then sparked the controversy.

Saraswathi Vidyanikethan is a well-known CBSE school in Ernakulam, run by the Rashtradharma Parishad Trust, which is linked to the Sangh Parivar. The school and the RSS state office share the same campus.

“Our students have even performed folk songs like ‘Nammal koyyum vayalellam nammudethaakum paingiliye…’ If they are humiliated for singing a patriotic song, we will not stay quiet,” Principal Dinto said.