'His personal thoughts': RSS distances itself from Kerala right-wing activist over Delhi student protest remarks

Right-wing political commentator TG Mohandas (File photo)

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Tuesday distanced itself from right-wing political commentator TG Mohandas over his remarks on the recent student protests in Delhi, clarifying that he does not hold any position in the organisation.Senior RSS functionary KB Sreekumar said Mohandas was not an office-bearer of the RSS at any level and described his remarks as “personal thoughts”, adding that the comments deserved to be condemned.

“TG 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,” Sreekumar told PTI.The clarification came a day after Mohandas’s remarks triggered widespread protests in Kerala and sparked outrage on social media, prompting the CPI-backed All India Students’ Federation (AISF) to file a police complaint against him.In its complaint to the Kerala DGP, the AISF alleged that Mohandas had called for student protesters to be “shot dead”, amounting to an appeal for violence and mass killing.According to the complaint, publicly advocating the use of state force to open fire on protesting students, with the possibility of deaths and grievous injuries, was an extremely dangerous statement that promoted violence, undermined the value of human life and had the potential to create fear and social unrest.The student outfit sought registration of a criminal case against Mohandas under all applicable legal provisions and urged an investigation into the YouTube channel that carried the remarks, the source of the video, related digital records and its circulation across social media platforms.The controversy stems from the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student protests at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over the NEET (UG) paper leak and broader education reforms. The satirical online platform launched its indefinite agitation on June 21 and called it off on July 25 after then-Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned and the Centre accepted all three of its demands, one of which was Pradhan’s resignation or ouster.The RSS, which has now distanced itself from Mohandas’s remarks, is the ideological mentor of the BJP, the party leading the government at the Centre.