NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju after he defended the handling of recent student protests by Delhi police. Rijiju had praised the Delhi Police for managing large student demonstrations without any deaths or serious injuries.“Not a single person was harmed; not a single person suffered a broken bone. Not even one protester is in the hospital with a serious injury. Consider the scale of this movement: thousands turned up, and so many criminals infiltrated under the guise of students,” Rijiju said.Responding on X, Rahul accused the government of ignoring injuries suffered during the protests and questioned Rijiju’s call to praise the police.“Ministers of the Modi government are saying that “the Delhi Police should be praised.” Half a kilometer from Parliament, pellet guns were fired at peaceful students, lathis studded with nails were used, one child’s eye was lost, one girl’s ear was severed. Should we praise this brutality?” the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha wrote.Rahul said he had personally met some of the injured protesters and alleged that videos of the police action had been widely circulated.“The fundamental mantra of this government is untruth and violence. First, beat the children with lathis, then claim that nothing happened at all,” he said.He also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over their response to the protests.
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“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,” Rahul wrote.Rijiju, meanwhile, said the government remained committed to protecting students’ interests and promised strict action against those responsible for examination leaks.He also claimed that political groups, including the Aam Aadmi Party, Bhim Army and Samajwadi Party, had joined the demonstrations and incited violence.“Furthermore, more than half the people, whether from the Aam Aadmi Party, the dafli-playing agitators, the Bhim Army, or the Samajwadi Party, came and incited others to violence; yet, not a single casualty occurred,” he said.“We respect the students’ sentiments. The Prime Minister introduced such a good law and took step after step, promising to work for their future,” he said.
