Right-wing ideologue and political commentator T G Mohandas has been booked by Thiruvananthapuram City Cyber Police on July 29 over controversial remarks he made in YouTube videos.

In one video, Mohandas, the former ‘convenor’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intellectual cell in Kerala, said he “would have shot” protesters at Jantar Mantar in Delhi if he were in control. In another video, he said Leftist and secular women like being raped.

Led by the Cockroach Janta Party, the sit-in protests at Jantar Mantar lasted 36 days and demanded accountability over the NEET paper leak, irregularities in competitive examination, and overall reform within the education system in the country. It culminated in the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Mohandas made some of the comments in a 30-minute video posted on his YouTube channel ‘Pathrika’ on July 26. Still available on his channel, the video described in explicit detail how violently he would have handled the demontrastors.

Speaking in Malayalam, he said, “I will impose a curfew in about a 4 square kilometre area around Jantar Mantar. Then I would announce thrice for the crowd to disperse. After that, I will open fire. People will scatter away and run for their lives. Some may die, some may suffer disabilities. Within four hours, the situation will be calm. Then I will collect the bodies and take them to hospitals.”

In a separate video, he declared that secular female protesters enjoyed being raped, and that there would be no complaints because these were women, particularly Leftists, liked being raped.  “Gangrapes will happen. In this case, there won’t be any complaints as these are people who like being raped. Some women like being raped, especially leftists, secular, democratic and proletarians. Now if someone dies during this, they will turn the person into a martyr,” he said.

The videos drew sharp condemnation online, though several commenters on his YouTube videos supported his statements. The widespread online outrage led to complaints being filed against him by leaders of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the All India Students Federation (AISF).

The case against Mohandas invokes Sections 192 and 353(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act, and Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act. According to the First Information Report (FIR), the case was filed following a complaint alleging that videos uploaded on Mohandas’ YouTube channel were intended to disturb public peace and create fear and unrest.

Taking to X, the official handle of the Congress party also released a statement on July 27, condemning Mohandas’ statements. “This vile statement by Mohandas is proof of RSS’s disgusting, violent, and misogynistic mindset, and RSS has always provided shelter to such people”, the post read. The party also urged immediate action against “such hateful and frustrated people.”

‘His views do not represent RSS’

The RSS has since distanced itself from Mohandas’ remarks. In a statement dated July 28, RSS Dakshin Keralam’s (South Kerala) Prant Sah Karyavah (joint provincial secretary) K B Sreekumar said the comments reflected Mohandas’ personal views and did not represent the organisation, while also clarifying that he was not an RSS official “at any level”.

Mohandas has over 220,000 followers on Facebook. In one of the Facebook posts tagging him dated June 6, 2018, we found that he had been invited to speak at the Virat Hindustan Sangam and was designated as the BJP Kerala’s intellectual cell Convener.

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Over the years, he has also been pictured with several influential BJP politicians, including former Kerala governor Mohammed Arif Khan, Raman Pillai, Subramanian Swamy, and Suresh Gopi.

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Mohandas, we found, is not new to controversies. He has made similar statements in the past. For instance, in 2022, after farmers in Punjab blocked Prime Minister Modi’s convoy, Mohandas said in a Facebook video that this humiliation would not have happened if a few of those who had raised flags at the Red Fort during the farmers’ protest had been “shot dead”. He also referred to the farmers blocking Modi’s convoy “terrorists” rather than farmers.

In 2024, a complaint was filed against him over remarks about rescue workers during the Mundakkai/Wayanad landslide disaster. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) member Riyas Mukkolakkal lodged a complaint with Kerala’s Director General of Police (DGP) alleging that while the state came together for rescue efforts, Mohandas spread hate and dismissing the work of those on the ground. In an YouTube interview, Mohandas had claimed those involved in rescue efforts were merely walking around in the organisation’s branded T shirts for the cameras, taking photos from safe spots, while never entering the high risk zones they claimed to be working in.