The demand to sing an RSS song at the Christmas celebration, which was scheduled to be observed by post offices across Kerala and was raised by a BJP-affiliated labour union, led to the cancellation of the programme after the union’s compulsion triggered a controversy, prompting MP John Brittas to write to the Union Minister, highlighting the insensitivity of singing a Hindutva ideological song on Christmas and describing the cancellation as conceding the secular tradition to sectarian forces.
The controversy arose after the Bharatiya Postal Administrative Offices Employees Union, an affiliate of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, sought the inclusion of RSS Ganageetham at the Christmas celebrations planned for December 18 in post offices across the Kerala circle, following which resistance from employees reportedly led the postal administration to cancel the programme altogether.
The cancellation, rather than a resolution of the dispute, intensified criticism from political leaders and employee organisations, who viewed the decision as punitive towards workers who objected to the ideological demand.
In a letter sent on December 17, Brittas addressed Scindia, while also marking copies to the Secretary of the Department of Posts and the Chief Postmaster General of the Kerala Circle, arguing that Christmas in India carries religious and social significance rooted in inclusiveness and goodwill and that introducing a song associated with a partisan ideological organisation within a government office was inappropriate and contrary to constitutional values, according to The Wire.
He further linked the cancellation of the event to the failure of the administration to protect the dignity of a religious celebration observed by employees of diverse backgrounds.
Reports in the Kerala-based daily Matrubhumi indicated that the union had also sought the inclusion of Ganapati stuti in the Christmas and New Year celebrations. G.R. Pramod, general secretary of the Central Government Employees’ Organisation, criticised the decision to cancel the celebrations, describing it as a retreat before sectarian forces and a blow to the secular ethos traditionally associated with central government institutions.
Brittas took to social media to state that the administration’s response had effectively penalised employees who raised objections, while allowing the underlying ideological demand to go unaddressed, thereby sidelining workers’ rights to observe a major festival with dignity. He argued that when official spaces are transformed into arenas of ideological contestation, ordinary employees bear the brunt of the consequences.
The Democratic Youth Federation of India also issued a statement opposing the postal department’s decision, asserting that sectarian activities should have no place within government offices.
The episode unfolded against the backdrop of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempts to reach out to Christian voters in Kerala, efforts that have repeatedly encountered resistance due to controversies involving its affiliates, including disputes during previous Christmas seasons and the central government’s practice of observing December 25 as Good Governance Day, coinciding with the birth anniversary of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.