The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) has strongly condemned the decision of the International University, Dimapur (formerly The Global Open University Nagaland), to name its recently inaugurated Central Library after Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
In a press statement issued through the NPCC communication cell, the party said that this decision is “profoundly troubling and deserves condemnation from all sections of the society who believe in the secular and inclusive ethos of the Constitution of India.”
While acknowledging that “the establishment of the Library in itself is laudable,” the NPCC criticized the university’s choice to honor Hedgewar, stating that it “speaks to the intolerance and bigotry of the University.” The statement further argued that the RSS is “an organisation rooted in the idea of converting India into an RSS ideology-conforming Hindutva State.”
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The Congress party also took issue with the fact that such an act was carried out in Nagaland, which is home to “one of the nation’s minority communities that have historically been at the receiving end of the RSS-engineered majoritarian discriminatory agendas.” Calling the move “abhorrent” and akin to “putting salt to injury on the people of Nagaland and the minority communities living all over India,” the party expressed strong opposition.
“Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee strongly denounces this divisive act of the International University and will oppose their efforts to poison our children’s minds, unapologetically and unwaveringly,” the statement concluded.