Did you order firing on students?: Rahul Gandhi asks Amit Shah amid Parliament
Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition wants Amit Shah to clarify whether he ordered firing on protesting students, rejecting a general debate on education. Congress reiterated three demands—Shah's clarification, PM Modi's apology over student police action and a statement on Ram Temple donations
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the country is not interested in Home Minister Amit Shah’s opinion in Parliament on “general topics” and wants to know if he ordered firing of pellet guns at protesting students, after the government said the minister was ready to reply to debate on student protests and police action.
The principal opposition party said it has been consistent with its three demands — that Shah should come clean on whether he ordered the firing on students or not, and Prime Minister Modi should speak about the Ram Temple donations theft and apologise on both the issues – and asserted these are “non-negotiable”.
Addressing a press conference along with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge at Indira Bhawan headquarters, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Shah did not have the courage to come to the House for over 15 days or to “own up to what they have done”. The Congress’ stand dimmed hopes of an end to the logjam in Parliament, where protests by the Opposition over the NEET paper leak issue and the alleged donation theft at the Ram temple in Ayodhya have disrupted proceedings since the start of the Monsoon session on July 20.
At the presser, Gandhi asserted that Shah has to go for either being “culpable or incompetent” for ordering firing of pellet guns himself or not knowing who gave the orders. He also alleged that the government was enacting “drama” while trying to “stitch” and “fill air in the balloon of Amit Shah”, which he claimed had already burst.
Gandhi fired the salvo after the government accused the Congress of moving the goalposts, saying the Home Minister was ready to reply to a discussion on the students’ protest and action against them in Parliament as demanded by the Opposition.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Monday that the government is ready for a full-fledged discussion in the Lok Sabha on the student protests and police action across the country and Union Home Minister Shah will reply to the debate, provided the opposition promises not to disrupt and listens peacefully. “The country is not interested in what Amit Shah thinks on education. The country is interested: did you, Mr Amit Shah, shoot at children or not? And, if you did, why?” Gandhi said.
“Neither we nor the country was interested in Amit Shah’s views on general things and what his opinion is. We want to know who ordered the firing? If not him, then who in the Home Ministry ordered it? Whether it is culpability or incompetence, we want to understand this. This has been our position from the beginning and this position has not changed,” the Congress leader claimed.
Hitting out at the government, he said, “This entire drama is going on to fill air in the balloon of Amit Shah, which has burst now. Amit Shah’s balloon has burst and no gas can be filled in it.” “Amit Shah does not have the courage, guts to face us in Parliament. He has shown this in the last 15 days. Neither does Narendra Modi nor Amit Shah have the guts,” Gandhi alleged. He said it is for the students to understand that neither the home minister nor the prime minister think what was done to them was worth commenting upon, as they did not do so for the last 15 days.
Gandhi said the Opposition was not interested in the personal opinion of the Home Minister, his viewpoint on education or other issues. “Neither are we interested, neither is the country interested. We are interested only in one thing… Without the Home Ministry’s order, neither can Delhi police fire nor can RAF do so. “Our only question is if he ordered firing or not. If yes, you are culpable, if you didn’t and someone else did, then you are incompetent. Either way you have to go,” Gandhi said.
In his remarks, Kharge said the Opposition wanted a discussion on the police action against students and the paper leak issue. But the government did not say anything for 14-15 days, which shows that they did not want a discussion, he added. “We kept forcing them, but he (Shah) did not come. The other demand was that PM Modi should make a statement on the theft of Ram temple donations.
“The Prime Minister announced the trust and constituted it. Under Modi ji’s trusted trustees, theft of donations took place. We wanted the guilty punished and the PM to make a statement, but the government did not pay heed to it,” he said.
PM Modi should apologise because lakhs of people have faith in the Ram temple, Kharge said. “These three issues are non-negotiable. We are fighting on all three issues. We stand firm on these three issues; the government must reply on this,” he asserted. Gandhi said the prime minister should apologise for the police action on students during the Jantar Mantar protest, adding that both have not spoken out on the issue so far.
“This shows the prime minister and the home minister’s character. For 15 days, neither of them had the courage to come to the house. Neither has the guts to own up to what they have done. That is for our students to understand. Neither Prime Minister, Home Minister have felt the need to comment on brutality on students,” he said. Gandhi said he was watching that for 15 days Shah was coming to Parliament but did not “enter the House and face us”.
