RSS wants to hijack education system: Congress MP Manickam Tagore

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Thursday slammed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), saying that it wants to "hijack" the country's education system.

Tagore said this while talking to IANS on a host of issues, including the National Education Policy (NEP), the delimitation issue and the Holi and Ramzan dispute.

In response to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin's remark that the government was imposing the NEP to promote Hindi, Tagore said it was a sensitive issue and consultation should be held.

"Education policy should not go into the hands of RSS. RSS wants to capture the education and carry the politics of hatred in society. If anything goes into the hands of RSS, it will divide society. We need an education policy formulated after consultation with all parties," said the Congress MP.

When asked the Congress party's stand on the delimitation on which its ally in Tamil Nadu DMK has been staging protests in Parliament, Tagore said the chief ministers of various states are taking a stand on the issue.

He said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will soon discuss with all chief ministers of opposition party-ruled states and take a collective stand on the delimitation exercise.

The Congress leader shared that the delimitation exercise should be conducted after taking the views of all and not done as it happened in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam.

People fear that the proposed delimitation exercise may be conducted as it happened in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam, he claimed.

Suggesting that the government should observe the controlled population growth, he called for equitable representation in the delimitation exercise.

Asserting that the government should not "politicise" the issue, Tagore suggested that a new formula should be found for the delimitation issue after discussing it with the opposition.

On Holi and Ramzan's dispute, he said we all know RSS wants to "divide" society.

Stepping up the attack on RSS, Tagore said: "What Britishers did (dividing the society), the RSS is carrying it forward. However, he said, "Nafrat ka bazar nahi chalne denge." The leader concluded after extending Holi and Ramzan greetings.