New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the alleged police excesses against students during the July 20 march towards Parliament. Addressing the media here, he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing him of ordering the Delhi Police to use pellet guns against students.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha also demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the alleged police brutality.
"My issue is that our students—people who are open-minded and ask questions—were brutalised on the streets of Delhi. They were shot with pellet guns… I have seen the medical certificate, the AIIMS medical certificate… You can see a police officer slapping a minor… The brutalisation of our students is a fundamental issue… Bajrang Dal is being mobilised against them to frighten them, so that they do not do this type of thing again," he alleged.
Gandhi demanded an explanation from the Home Minister over the use of force against the students. He said that if Amit Shah had authorised the police action, he should be removed from office, and if he was unaware of it, he was incompetent to continue as Home Minister.
The Leader of Opposition alleged that he was not allowed to speak in Lok Sabha and everytime he tries to speak there, he is "silenced".
Either Shah ordered that students be shot with pellet guns and beaten with lathis with nails or he was unaware, Gandhi said, referring to the crackdown by security forces during the July 20 Cockroach Janta Party-led protest march to Parliament.
"If he ordered it, he is culpable and if he did not know then he is incompetent," Gandhi said at the press conference.
"As you saw today, the leader of opposition is not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha. Multiple times, I asked the speaker to bring order to the house so that I can speak. Multiple times, (Union minsters Kiren) Rijiju, Rajnath Singh were allowed to speak and the excuse was that I said something about Home Minister Shah," Gandhi said.
"I said Shah was responsible for the brutality that was carried out. I was given an assurance that if I apologise, I will be allowed to speak. I will never apologise to the BJP-RSS," he said.
It is my right to raise issues that are important to the country, Gandhi asserted.
The "brutalisation of our students" assault on our students is a fundamental issue, he said.
Pointing to a picture of Shah on the screen at the press conference, Gandhi said to students, "This is the man who beat you, thrashed you, humiliated you and shot you with pellet guns."
"We will ensure that the students who were beaten get justice, people who shot students with pellet guns are punished," he said.
So it is our advice to the prime minister to sack Shah, he said.
Gandhi also demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the alleged police excesses.
Earlier, in Lok Sabha, the Leader of Opposition alleged that Shah had authorised police excesses against student protesters, triggering a massive uproar in the Lok Sabha during a debate on the bill to amend the anti-paper leaks law.
