Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday met Sahil, a student injured in alleged pellet gun firing during the brutal police crackdown against Cockroach Janata Party protesters on July 20.
Speaking to mediapersons in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi lifted the student’s T-shirt to show the press the suspected pellet gun injuries he allegedly sustained during the July 20 police crackdown.
“The Modi government claims that pellet guns were not used during the protests, but the truth is right in front of you,” he said.
He said that the students who were protesting against paper leaks were attacked with pellet guns, which damaged their eyes and left them blind.
Rahul claimed that “thousands of young people like this have been fired upon with pellet guns” for protesting against paper leaks.
He said that such use of lethal force against students for raising legitimate concerns and holding the government accountable is “unacceptable”.
“WE STAND WITH OUR STUDENTS. WE STAND WITH THEIR DEMANDS,” he said.
However, the three demands Rahul Gandhi stated were different from the main demands of the CJP-led protesters.
The demands for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation and strict action against those who brutalised the students were similar, but Rahul Gandhi’s third demand–that Narendra Modi should apologize to the students and the country–was not part of the CJP’s publicly stated terms for ending their protest.
Meanwhile, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Jitendra Singh today met CJP delegation for talks. According to the CJP, the ministers agreed to two of their demands – compensation for students who died by suicide after NEET paper leak and no FIR against protesters.
However, the ministers have reportedly sought a day’s time on their main demand – the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.