The Kerala CM, in his letter, said the RGCB is an advanced research institute and “has been above political divide.”
In a letter to Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan has asked him not to rename Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Thiruvananthapuram under Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue MS Golwalkar.
On Friday, Harsh Vardhan had said the second campus of RGCB would be renamed “Shri Guruji Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar National Centre for Complex Disease in Cancer and Viral Infection”. He was addressing the inauguration of the India International Science Festival to be held from December 22 to 25.
The Kerala CM, in his letter, said the RGCB is an advanced research institute and “has been above political divide.”
“The RGCB was initially run by the state government and was handed over to the government of India with the aim of developing it into a centre achieving international standards in research and development,” Mr Vijayan wrote in his letter. “Keeping this in view, the government of Kerala is of the opinion that the campus be named after some eminent Indian scientist of international repute instead of the proposed name,” he added.
“I request you to reconsider the decision, if it has already been taken, or not to contemplate such a decision, if already not taken. I hope that your ministry will consider favourably our proposal to name the new campus after an eminent Indian scientist. This will keep up the reputation of the Institution and help to avoid controversies in the public domain,” the Kerala CM said.
LDF convener and CPI(M) state secretary A Vijayaraghavan, slamming this move by the centre, said: “This is exactly how the BJP works. They generally try to bring up communal symbols. During the campaign in Hyderabad election, they wanted to change the name of the city. They changed the name of Allahabad and want to change the names of other cities. That is the style of BJP, as part of that, in Kerala they have given the name of Sanghparivar to a scientific institute. Their idea is to communalise everything and deploy communal thoughts into the minds of people”.
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