Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has strongly condemned the BJP-led Central government’s recent decision to issue a commemorative postage stamp and a ₹100 coin celebrating the centenary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), labeling it a “grave insult to our nation’s Constitution.”
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Vijayan sharply criticized the Centre for attempting to “legitimize an organization that deliberately distanced itself from India’s freedom struggle, instead promoting a divisive ideology that echoed colonial ‘divide and rule’ tactics.”
He asserted that this “national honor” directly attacks the legacy of India’s true freedom fighters and undermines the secular, unified vision they painstakingly worked to create.
Furthermore, on Gandhi Jayanti, observed on Thursday, October 2, 2025, Mr. Vijayan issued a stark warning about the “perils posed by aggressive right-wing Hindu nationalism” to India’s fundamental secular democratic structure.
In a separate Facebook post, the Chief Minister recalled that “Mahatma Gandhi was tragically assassinated by Hindu majoritarian extremists precisely because he championed secularism and democracy.”
He elaborated, stating that “these fanatical assassins saw Gandhian values as a significant ideological and political barrier to their ambitions of establishing a homogeneous Hindu nation rooted in revanchist ideals.”
Mr. Vijayan emphasized that Gandhi was “martyred for his unwavering vision of India as a secular, inclusive, and pluralistic nation.”
He highlighted the irony, noting, “It is on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti that the Central government chose to issue a stamp and coin commemorating the 100th year of the RSS, an organization that was actually banned by authorities following Gandhi’s assassination.”
The Chief Minister argued that the RSS “feared even the very memory” of Mahatma Gandhi.
He further accused the Central government of “attempting to rewrite history by replacing Gandhi’s stature with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, an RSS ideologue who was tried in connection with Gandhi’s assassination, as the true torchbearer of the Indian Independence movement.”
Earlier that day, while speaking at the third death anniversary commemoration of the late Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in Kannur, Mr. Vijayan had vehemently underscored the “existential threat” the RSS poses to “minorities and other marginalized segments of society.”
He elaborated that “the RSS has long harbored aspirations for a Hindu theocracy, one that rigidly adheres to an oppressive caste system and views minorities – including linguistic groups, Dalits, tribals, and backward classes – as subordinate citizens of inferior social standing. The RSS, he claimed, ‘has drawn inspiration from German fascist leader Adolf Hitler’s methods, seeking the annihilation of minorities, whom it perceives as ‘treasonous fifth columnists’ in its pursuit of a Hindu totalitarian state.'”
Mr. Vijayan also commented on the increasingly indistinct ideological boundaries between the Congress party and the RSS. “Many Congress leaders, even from the party’s early years, showed a clear inclination towards RSS ideology,” he noted. “This deep-seated ideological ambiguity within the Congress regarding the defense of secularism ultimately cleared the path for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s ascent in states traditionally governed by the Congress across the nation.”