The All-India Feminist Alliance (ALIFA), a national platform bringing together women, transgender and non-binary persons from democratic movements across the country, has issued an open letter to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, demanding institutional accountability for right-wing commentator T.G. Mohandas over his remarks calling for student protesters to be shot and making derogatory comments about women.
Issued on Quit India Day, the letter gives the Sangh until August 14—a week before Independence Day—to act, warning that “silence is complicity.”
The Remarks That Sparked Outrage
Between July 24 and 26, Mohandas published a series of videos on his YouTube channel Pathrika. In the July 26 video, he described in detail how he would handle the student protests at Jantar Mantar if he were “in charge”:
“I would impose curfew over about a 4-square-kilometre area around Jantar Mantar. I would announce over loudspeakers, asking the crowd to disperse. I would make the announcement three times. Then I would open fire. People would scatter and run. Some people would die, some would survive, and some would be left permanently disabled. Within about four hours, the situation would be under control. The bodies would be collected and taken to hospitals… This is a solution. Clean.”
Of the women among the protesters, he said:
“Rapes will happen, mass rapes… there are girls who like rape… there are people who like rapes, especially, leftist, secular, democratic, proletarian class of people… When mass rapes happen there won’t be any complaints, because these are the people who like rape.”
Mohandas has not denied speaking these words, instead calling them “satire” and complaining that clips were taken out of context.
The Man and His Sangh Links
The letter notes that Mohandas served as state convener of the BJP’s Intellectual Cell in Kerala and as the party’s television spokesperson. He was General Secretary and later Vice-President of Bharatiya Vichara Kendram, the RSS-affiliated “think tank” in Kerala, and managed RSS-linked publications. The ALIFA letter states that the RSS “groomed this man, and given him numerous platforms for forty years”.
Following the controversy, the RSS distanced itself from Mohandas. Senior Sangh functionary K.B. Sreekumar said in a statement: “T.G. Mohandas’s comments on the recent protest are his personal thoughts. He is not an RSS official at any level. RSS doesn’t agree with his views and they should be condemned in every highest possible manner”.
The BJP’s Kerala unit also distanced itself, with general secretary Dr J. Pramila Devi calling Mohandas a “free thinker” while maintaining that the party does not endorse his statements.
‘The Machinery Exists’
The letter draws a sharp contrast with the BJP’s swift action against Nupur Sharma in June 2022, when the party suspended its national spokesperson within a day of diplomatic protests from Gulf nations over her remarks. “The machinery exists. It moved within hours when there was a political expediency to act,” the letter states. “The students, youth and women of this country are waiting to know whether they and their cause matter as much.”
Legal Action Underway
The Kerala Police’s Cyber Cell has registered an FIR (Crime No. 95/2026) against Mohandas following complaints by student organisations including the SFI, AIYF and AISF. The FIR invokes Sections 192 and 353(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Section 66 of the Information Technology Act, and Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act. Police have alleged that the videos were uploaded and circulated on July 24 and 25 with the intention of “disturbing public tranquillity”.
Four Demands, One Week
The ALIFA letter places four demands before the RSS and BJP:
- A written and public condemnation of Mohandas’s statements by name, and immediate severance of all platforms and courtesies extended to him by Sangh Parivar organisations.
- A statement from the Sarsanghchalak’s office affirming that women, youth and citizens who protest are entitled to dignity and constitutional rights.
- Pro-active support for the legal process against Mohandas, with the letter noting that the Supreme Court’s directions in Tehseen Poonawalla (2018) require registration of hate speech cases without waiting for complainants.
- Takedown of the videos in question, with certified copies preserved for investigation.
The letter concludes: “If this August 15 passes in silence, we will read the silence as an answer… Silence is complicity.”
Courtesy: CounterView