Launching a sharp attack on Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused him of being accountable for the alleged use of force against student protesters. Gandhi also claimed that Shah lacked the courage to explain the incident in Parliament.
The Congress MP made the remarks after meeting a group of students at former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence at 10 Janpath in New Delhi. The students had participated in protests last month demanding the resignation of then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged examination paper leaks and had alleged police action against them during demonstrations on July 20.
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Addressing the media after the meeting, Gandhi praised the students for standing up for their rights and the country’s future.
“I just met young protesters from various states and had a discussion. I want to thank them and I am proud of thousands of students like them as they fought for the Constitution, the education system and the future of India,” he said.
He further said that the youngsters “do not need to apologise to anyone,” asserting that “they have defended the Constitution and the idea of India.”
Gandhi argued that raising concerns over the country’s education system was not a crime, describing it as “a flawed system, a collapsing system, a useless system” that urgently needs reform.
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“If anything, the system needs to be changed. It needs to be corrected. And that is all they were asking for,” he said.
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The Congress leader further mentioned that the protesters were peaceful and accused the authorities of using excessive force against them.
“They were not being violent. They were not being aggressive. They were not being nasty. They were beaten, they were assaulted, and they were threatened,” Gandhi alleged.
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He also criticised the alleged coercion of students into issuing public apologies, calling the entire exercise “complete nonsense.”
“First forcing them to apologise, sending goons to their homes, sending goons into women’s homes, forcibly making them apologise, making a 15-year-old girl apologise, and then accepting that apology—that is complete nonsense. We do not accept it,” Gandhi said.
