New Delhi, Aug 18: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju over his praise for the Delhi Police’s handling of the protests against NEET paper leak on July 20, saying force was used against students with use of lethal weapons like pellet guns as well as batons with nails and asked “should we praise the police”.
In a post on X, Rahul Gandhi said, “Ministers of the Modi government are saying that “the Delhi Police should be praised.”
The Congress leader stated that half a kilometer from Parliament, pellet guns were fired at peaceful students, batons with nails were used, one child’s eyesight was lost, one girl’s ear was severed.
“Should we praise this brutality?” Rahul Gandhi said, adding that he, himself met those injured children.
Slamming the government, the Rae Bareli MP said: “The country has seen thousands of videos.The fundamental mantra of this government is untruth and violence. First, beat the children with lathis, then claim that nothing happened at all.”
Taking a jibe at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for not attending the House during the Parliament’s Monsoon Session and Prime Minister Narendra Modi not apologising to the students, he said, “Throughout the entire session, the ‘missing’ Amit Shah kept running from the opposition. And the Prime Minister has not apologized to the students to this day.”
“The truth is that the biggest danger to this country comes from these empty-headed people-who neither see their own mistakes, nor admit them even when they do,’ the former Congress chief said.
“Don’t lie to the children of this country. They have eyes and memories too,” he added.
His remarks came after Rijiju during an interview defended Delhi Police for taking measures to control the protest on July 20 when the students had started march from Jantar Mantar to Parliament.
He said that not a single casualty happened, no one was severely injured despite the massive scale of protest where thousands of students had gathered.
Rijiju also said that one should praise Delhi Police and the administration for handling such a massive protest without allowing even a single serious injury.
“Thousands actually died from gunfire during the Congress era… During the protests, the Delhi administration did not use even one lathi; it was only when they forcibly marched towards Parliament that they were stopped. There were no deaths. The police should be praised…” the Minister added.