The General Education department in Kerala has suspended a teacher who was involved in preparing a controversial question that identified Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue V.D. Savarkar as the freedom fighter who received the “most punishment” from the British in a quiz conducted for school students in Kasaragod.

Guru Prasad, a teacher at A.U.P.S. Pallathadukka under the Kumbla educational sub-district, has been suspended pending inquiry. The Director of General Education (DGE) has also directed the Deputy Director of Education, Kasaragod, to initiate departmental disciplinary proceedings against the teacher and conduct a detailed inquiry into the matter.

The controversy arose from the Social Science Club’s ‘Freedom Quiz 2026,’ conducted at the school level on August 6, 2026 in schools under the Kasaragod, Kumbla and Manjeswaram educational sub-districts. The competition was held in the lower primary, upper primary and high school categories.

The lower primary quiz contained 15 questions and five tie-breaker questions. The fifth question was, “who is the freedom fighter who received the most punishment from the hands of the British?,” for which the answer given in the answer key was V.D. Savarkar. The question triggered protests and a political controversy in the State.

According to the DGE’s order, the question paper was prepared by a group of teachers under the leadership of Mr. Prasad. The departmental inquiry found that framing a question in a manner that could spread a misleading impression was “very serious.”

Political dimension

The controversy has assumed a wider political dimension with the Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan accusing the Congress-led United Democratic Front government of providing space for the RSS to influence young minds through a “divisive nationalistic ideology.”

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] veteran alleged that the government had allowed a politically loaded question that allegedly whitewashed Savarkar’s role in the freedom struggle to find its way into a school quiz. He also accused the government of failing to prevent purported attempts by the Sangh Parivar to rewrite the history of the freedom movement from a Hindu majoritarian perspective.

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) had demanded an inquiry into the circumstances in which the question was included in the quiz, including who prepared and approved the question paper.

Published - August 09, 2026 06:08 pm IST