Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced that at least 1,000 schools run by Vidya Bharati, the educational wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), will be established across the state within a year. The announcement came at the 74th anniversary of Vidya Bharati, held at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture.
Addressing the gathering, Adhikari appealed to Vidya Bharati to help impart what he called “nationalistic learning” to students in Bengal. He said the schools would be built across every district, municipality, and panchayat in the state.
The CM specifically directed Vidya Bharati to prioritise opening institutes in South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad, two districts with significant Muslim populations, claiming these areas saw “more anti-national activities.” Vidya Bharati Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Sansthan has faced sustained scrutiny for promoting Hindutva ideology and anti-Muslim narratives in its textbooks and curriculum.
Adhikari also took a firm stance on the singing of Vande Mataram in schools, warning that government aid would be withdrawn from any institution that did not comply with singing the full version of the national song.
In a statement that drew sharp attention, Adhikari said his government does not believe in separate forms of education. “There should not be separate forms of education: Madrasa education and other forms of education. All of it should be one education system,” he said. He invoked Hindutva ideologue Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s slogan, “ek desh, ek bidhan, ek nishan, ek pradhan” (One Nation, One Constitution, One Flag, One Leader), and said the same principle should apply to education.
Adhikari also opposed the Minority Department overseeing Aliah University, a state university with a predominantly Muslim student body. “You cannot have one department looking after Aliah University and another looking after other institutions. This cannot continue,” he said.
He further questioned why the minority affairs department had submitted a separate list of 27 Muslim students who topped board examinations, framing the separate recognition as contrary to his government’s ideology of uniformity.
Critics argue the announcements reflect a systematic effort to marginalise Muslim educational institutions and communities in West Bengal under the BJP-led state government.
