‘Blatant distortion of history’: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan questions Modi for praising RSS on I-Day

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of distorting history by praising the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during his Independence Day address from the Red Fort, The New Indian Express reported.

“The attempt to portray the RSS, which was banned following Gandhi’s assassination and VD Savarkar, who stood trial in the murder conspiracy, as major contributors of Indian independence is a blatant distortion of history,” the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader said.

Choosing Independence Day to glorify those who had served the British amounted to an insult to the freedom struggle, The New Indian Express quoted the Kerala chief minister as saying.

Vijayan said that such moves could not whitewash the RSS, which he alleged carries “a poisonous legacy of divisive politics”, ANI reported.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi also criticised Modi for mentioning the Hindutva organisation during his Independence Day address, PTI reported.

Owaisi said he believed it was a “disrespect to the country’s freedom struggle”, alleging that the RSS did not participate in it and, in fact, helped the British.

“The RSS has always opposed inclusive nationalism, which was the foundation laid by our ancestors,” Owaisi said. “When PM Modi visited the RSS headquarters, I did not oppose it because he himself is a member of the RSS and will always be. But when he...

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