Senior party leader Pawan Khera slams the state’s Left Front government for not mentioning RSS name in the FIR filed by the police
NEW DELHI — As the suicide case of 26-year-old software engineer Anandu Aji from Kerala is politically heating up, the main opposition Congress party has demanded a fair, impartial and time-bound investigation into the sexual abuse in RSS camps. The party also slammed Kerala’s Left Front government for not mentioning RSS name in the FIR filed by the police.
The 26-year -old allegedly took his own life on October 9 after revealing in a scheduled Instagram post that he had been sexually and physically abused as a child by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In his post, Anandu claimed that as a four-year-old, he was repeatedly abused by multiple members of the RSS and BJP, including a person he referred to as “NM.” The young engineer said the trauma had haunted him for 22 years, eventually driving him to end his life.
Pawan Khera, Congress spokesperson and Chairman of the AICC’s Media and Publicity Department, raised serious questions about the handling of the case, pointing out that despite Anandu explicitly naming the RSS and BJP in his dying declaration, the First Information Report (FIR) filed in connection with his death does not mention the RSS. “Why is the administration so scared of an unregistered organisation that the word ‘RSS’ doesn’t figure in the FIR when there is incriminating evidence of physical, sexual, and mental abuse?” Khera asked.
He said millions of Indians send their children to RSS-run camps, and Anandu’s story should serve as a grim warning. “His words expose the darkness that hides behind the façade of cultural nationalism, where young boys from ordinary and often marginal backgrounds are preyed upon, manipulated and silenced in the name of ideology,” Khera said. “In the name of nation-building, the RSS is destroying both the present and the future of this country.”
Calling Anandu’s suicide a “stark warning about unchecked power and unaccountable organisations,” Khera criticised the RSS for remaining unregistered despite its close ties with the ruling party and the government. “It is the same organisation that the prime minister couldn’t stop praising in his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RSS, the prime minister launched a commemorative stamp and coin in their favour on October 1,” he said.
Khera attacked the top leadership of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, accusing them of remaining silent despite identifying themselves as lifelong members or pracharaks of the RSS. “Yet, despite the haunting nature of this issue, these self-proclaimed members of the RSS have neither said a word nor asked for an investigation. Even RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has failed to express concern or offer support for an inquiry,” he added.
Describing the RSS as an organisation that “never fails to sermonise on religion, values and nationalism,” Khera said the revelations expose “an ugly, rotten cycle of abuse and exploitation that destroys lives while thriving in silence.” He said there is now an “emergency to expose what goes on behind the curtain of values and patriotism in the BJP-RSS ecosystem.”
He further alleged that both the Kerala and Union governments had failed in their duties. “If the system is afraid of an unregistered organisation, the system needs to hang its head in shame,” he said, holding a copy of the FIR to show that the RSS name was missing. “We are questioning the government of India, the prime minister, the BJP and the RSS. If lakhs of Indian children attend RSS camps, are they safe there?”
On being asked about the Kerala government’s role, Khera said, “If the system under the Kerala government is afraid of the RSS, it tells you a horrifying story.” He insisted that the Congress would continue to demand accountability from all sides and reiterated the party’s demand for a thorough and independent probe.
He also criticised the prime minister for his silence, saying, “On October 1, he released a coin and a stamp marking 100 years of RSS. Why is he quiet now? Why is the cabinet, full of RSS members, silent? Why is Mohan Bhagwat quiet? He has opinions on everything—from how women should behave to what they should wear—but not a word on this tragedy.”
Echoing Khera’s remarks, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the party’s General Secretary, said the RSS must allow the allegations to be investigated fully. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), she wrote that Anandu had alleged repeated abuse by multiple RSS members and said that “rampant sexual abuse is taking place in RSS camps.”
She wrote: “If true, this is horrifying”.
“Lakhs of young children and teenagers attend these camps all over India. The leadership of the RSS must take immediate action and come clean.”
Priyanka Gandhi added that sexual abuse of boys is a grave issue that must be confronted openly. “Sexual abuse of boys is a scourge as widespread as that of girls. The code of silence around these unspeakably heinous crimes has to be broken,” she said.
The Congress has demanded that the RSS be specifically named in the FIR and that an impartial judicial inquiry be launched into Anandu’s death. “Anandu’s case,” Khera said, “is not just a tragedy—it is a warning against the dangers of unchecked power and the silence that protects it.”
