In yet another instance that reflects the ideology of the formerly banned right wing Hindu organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), idealogue TG Mohandas, in a series of YouTube videos said that he would have ordered police to open fire on protesters demanding accountability over the NEET paper leak, and made obscene remarks about women who took part in the demonstrations, claiming they “like rape” and would not complain even if mass rapes occurred.

Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has since ordered a police probe into the remarks, made by Mohandas, a former convener of the BJP’s Intellectual Cell in Kerala and a well-known commentator linked to the RSS. The comments came in videos posted on the YouTube channel Pathrika between July 24 and 26, after Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following a 36-day protest by the Cockroach Janata Party, or CJP, at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over alleged irregularities in the NEET medical entrance exam.

In one video, Mohandas described how he would have handled the protest if he were in charge. He said he would impose a curfew within a four-kilometre radius of the site, ask the crowd to disperse three times, and then order security personnel to open fire. He said some protesters would die, and others would be injured, but that the situation would be calm within four hours and casually remarked that the bodies would be collected and taken to hospitals.

In another video, Mohandas targeted women who took part in the protest. He claimed that gang rapes would occur if police withdrew from the site, and claimed that women among the protesters, whom he described as belonging to left-wing and secular groups, would not complain because they enjoyed being raped. He also said anyone killed in the process would be treated as a martyr by the protesters.

In a separate video posted on July 24, Mohandas defended physical assaults on student protesters by police, saying officers had the right to conceal their name badges. He alleged that some protesters had worn police uniforms at the site and said officers had beaten protesters both inside and outside the barricades, and that some police personnel were also beaten.

Chennithala ordered the probe after receiving multiple complaints from political leaders over the remarks. Several political leaders and citizens have demanded Mohandas’s arrest.

Mohandas commands a large following in Kerala and has previously served as general secretary of the Bharatiya Vichara Kendram and as general manager of an RSS-linked publication.