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Rahul Gandhi has two-point ‘advice’ for PM Modi, an ‘Opposition guarantee’ for student protesters: Key quotes
Rahul Gandhi said that, as the Leader of the Opposition, it is his right to raise issues that are important to the country.
Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on union home minister Amit Shah, accusing him of ordering the use of pellet guns against students protesting at Jantar Mantar. He said Shah should be sacked over what he described as his incompetence.
Addressing a press conference, Gandhi said he was not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha because he had questioned Shah. He also claimed that he was asked to apologise, but said he would never do so.
“The leader of the Opposition is not allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha. Multiple times I asked the speaker to bring order to the house so I could speak. Multiple times Rajnath Singh, Rijiju were allowed to speak, but I was not.. And the excuse was that I said something about Amit Shah, that he was responsible for the brutality that was carried out.”
"I was asked to apologise, but I will never ever apologise to the BJP, the RSS, or anyone else," Gandhi said, referring to his speech in the Lok Sabha. Follow LIVE updates here.
Gandhi said that, as the Leader of the Opposition, it is his right to raise issues that are important to the country. “To me, the most important issue today, by far, is the following: this issue, where our students asked questions and were brutalised on the streets of Delhi.”
Referring to the alleged police brutality during demonstrations at Jantar Mantar on July 20, Gandhi said the students, who were peacefully asking questions to the government were brutalised, shot with pellet guns.
He also claimed that one of the students who was hit is “most likely to lose his eye.” Gandhi said that he has seen medical reports that show that the protestors were hit by pellet guns, shocked with batons and with lathis embedded with nails.
"They (protesting students) were shot with pellet guns. One boy who was shot with a pellet gun is most likely to lose his eye and may not be able to see. I have seen the AIIMS medical certificate, which shows that he was shot with pellet guns. Shock batons were used, not just normal lathis, lathis with nails. Where did the police get this idea from?..."
Showing a collage of five pictures of alleged brutality, Gandhi said minors and women protestors were hit and slapped. He added that plain clothes officers were also present at the protest site, and questioned their deployment.
“For me, the brutalisation of our students, the beating of our students is a fundamental issue.. It is an issue for students themselves who are being threatened today.”
Gandhi further alleged that students are being threatened through the use of facial recognition technology and claimed that the Bajrang Dal is being mobilised against them to deter them from holding similar protests in the future.
‘Either culpable or incompetent’: Gandhi
Displaying an image of Shah on a large screen, Gandhi said that any action taken by police forces under the union home ministry requires the home minister's approval. He also claimed that he saw union minister Jitendra Singh receiving calls from Shah during the Congress protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence.
"Now, here is the question: this gentleman over here (pointing to Home Minister Amit Shah's picture), as I understand it, is the Home Minister of India, and any action taken by police forces or forces associated with the Home Ministry requires his order. So, when we were at Parliament House, I saw with my own eyes Amit Shah calling police officers, the Home Minister ji, on the phone. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw (MoS) Jitendra Singh, the Minister, getting call after call from Mr. Amit Shah. So, he was pretty clear and aware of what was going on on the street."
Gandhi said there were only two possibilities: either Shah knew about and ordered the use of force against the students, making him culpable, or he was unaware of it, making him incompetent. In either case, Gandhi said, Shah should "go."
"Now there are two possibilities. Possibility number one is that he gave the order to shoot people with pellet guns, beat people with lathis with nails, and use electric batons on people. Or he did not know it was happening. If he did not know it was happening, he is incompetent. And if he ordered it, he is culpable," Gandhi said.
“Take a good look at him, this is the man who is responsible for what happened to you. Of course he takes his orders from the prime minister but this is the man who beat you, thrashed you, humiliated you, who shot you with pellet guns. All I'm saying is be clear,” he added.
Who reports to whom
Gandhi continued his criticism of Shah, asking a question: Who reports to whom. He then noted that Delhi police, who was responsible for “part of the beatings” reports to ministry of home affairs, which is run by Shah. He added that the RAF, which reports to CRPF, the paramilitary force, also reports to the home minister.
“These forces that did the beating, that shot our students, both report to Amit Shah. There is no Haryana police operating in Delhi, no UP police operating in Delhi.. only Delhi police and RAF..”
Gandhi then showed a picture of a letter he said he wrote to Shah on July 25, seeking answers as to who ordered the use of force on protesting students.
“I wrote a very respectful letter to Shah – as home minister did you approve the use of lethal force, including pellet guns against students. It not, who did.”
In his letter, he asked Shah – if those seen in plain clothes were police officials or volunteers and who authorised their deployment. Gandhi claimed that he has not even received an acknowledgment if the home minister received the letter.
The Congress MP said the Opposition will ensure that every student who was “beaten” gets justice and those responsible for it will be punished.
"We will ensure that the students who were beaten, maybe not today, maybe sometime from now, but we will ensure that every single one of those students who was beaten gets justice. We will ensure that the people who shot our students with pellet guns will be punished. It's very simple for us to do. We have the photographs. We've collected all the videos and all the photographs. We know the police officers who have done it. So, you might think you're very smart, but accountability is going to come. This is our guarantee. This is our (opposition)'s guarantee to the students..."
Gandhi's dig at PM Modi
Gandhi also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that merely putting a phone in front of one's face does not enable a person to connect with Gen Z.
"Prime Minister thinks that just because he puts a phone in front of his face, he suddenly becomes someone who is able to communicate with Gen Z. No. The problem is your image. The problem is what you have done to these students. The problem is how you have destroyed their future. The problem is what you have done to the economy. That's the problem. And that image is gone. So, the field is open for us. And I really thank the students. I'm very proud of them. And I don't like saying this, but they had the courage that their parents did not have," Gandhi said.
