File photo: Opposition camp protesting against ruling MPs outside Parliament (Picture credit: PTI)
NEW DELHI: The second week of the monsoon session of Parliament is set for a fiery start with the opposition led by the Congress set to mount its attack on the govt over the alleged police brutality against protesting students, demanding accountability and an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi set the tone by writing a letter to Home minister Amit Shah on Sunday demanding accountability for the “barbaric assault” on students who were peacefully protesting on July 20.“Our students were demanding a fair and accountable education system. Instead of being heard, security forces assaulted them with indiscriminate force, including lethal weapons and tear gas. Hundreds have suffered serious injuries.
CJP Jantar Mantar Protest Updates
Women students have been assaulted by policemen, including by deliberately targeting their private parts. Most shocking has been the use of lethal pellet guns,” Gandhi said in the letter.He went on to cite his meeting with 19 – year old student Sahil Lochab, who he said “is now in severe pain and is likely to lose an eye because he was shot with pellet guns”.Security forces deployed in Delhi answer ultimately to you, so I ask, “As Home minister, did you approve the use of lethal force including pellet guns against students? If not, who did?”“Are the people in plain clothes seen beating students with lathis police personnel or volunteers? Who authorised their deployment?,” he asked Shah. “Youth and students, the future of our country, are demanding answers and accountability. Their voices will be heard,” he added.Sharing the letter, Congress general secretary, in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh said in a post in Hindi on X, “The home minister must answer these crucial questions in Parliament tomorrow. The prime minister should apologise to the students.”Meanwhile, the floor strategy of the opposition and its position on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 being brought by the govt will be finalised at the INDIA bloc meeting in Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge’s chamber in Parliament on Monday.There is a strong view among INDIA bloc leaders that the demand for accountability and action against Delhi Police over the action against protesting students needs to be raised strongly and the responsibility of Home Minister Amit Shah needs to be underscored.Resonating the sentiment of the opposition, TMC’s Rajya Sabha’s deputy leader Sagarika Ghose has submitted a notice under Rule 267 seeking suspension of the day’s business in the Rajya Sabha on Monday to allow an immediate discussion on the “use of excessive force on student protestors during NEET examination protests”.Ghose said the right to peaceful protest was a constitutional right, but student protesters had allegedly been subjected to “lethal and semi-lethal force” by security agencies. Her notice also raised the question as to who authorised the use of such weapons and what protocols were followed.CPI(M) MP John Brittas said,”Everyone is anxious about the functioning of Parliament! But are we not equally outraged by the blatant violation of every rule and regulation, and the ruthless use of lethal weapons against unarmed, innocent protesters? Can the Home Minister — who is directly responsible for the Delhi Police and the administration of Delhi — simply wash his hands of this shameful and shocking episode? When such brutal atrocities are unleashed in the national capital, how can responsibility not be fixed?.””Beyond fixing responsibility, a judicial commission must be immediately constituted to inquire into this assault. We possess a mountain of evidence that conclusively proves every fundamental principle of law and regulation have been trampled upon,” he added. Go to Source
