Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 23 Former president of Congress unit in Kerala M.M. Hassan has accused the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government of attempting to “saffronise” Kerala’s education system to appease the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
He said the state’s move to implement the PM SHRI scheme, despite opposition from the CPI, the second-largest party in the ruling LDF, is a deliberate attempt to align with the BJP’s ideological agenda.
“The government is luring people with the promise of central funds, just like leading a goat to the slaughterhouse by showing it green grass,” Hassan remarked.
According to him, CM Vijayan and Education Minister V. Sivankutty are trying to tie Kerala’s education sector to the RSS fold, betraying the state’s secular and progressive values.
“This is an injustice to our future generations,” he said, alleging that the government’s last-minute approval of the scheme was aimed at utilising the Central funds to settle salary arrears and other expenditures.
Hassan said the CPI(M) was compromising its ideological stance to maintain cordiality with the BJP.
“The CPI(M) and the BJP are now bound by a hidden understanding. Pinarayi Vijayan alone wants to please the BJP and the Centre, but the Education Minister must not yield,” he said.
He also criticised the CPI(M) leadership for silencing the Education Minister, who had initially opposed the scheme.
“Even the CPI State Secretary’s objections to the Centre’s education policy have been ridiculed by the CPI(M) leadership,” Hassan noted, adding that the Left was now ready to sacrifice its ideals for the sake of central funds.
Citing Karnataka’s example, Hassan pointed out that even a BJP-ruled state had framed its own education policy, rejecting the unscientific and communal elements of the National Education Policy (NEP).
“Why can’t Kerala show the same courage?” he asked, urging the state to follow Tamil Nadu’s model of legal resistance to the Centre’s policies.
Hassan alleged that the Pinarayi government routinely diverts funds from Central schemes for routine expenses.
He said the Centre’s condition that Kerala must accept an RSS-inspired education policy to receive funding was an attack on federal principles.
“The PM SHRI scheme’s saffronisation agenda threatens Kerala’s educational foundations and future generations. It cannot be accepted,” he said.
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