Amit Shah 'Ready To Discuss Queries In Parliament' On Delhi Police Crackdown

The government is ready to discuss every issue related to the student protests, including the police action, in Parliament, Minister Kiren Rijiju said Monday, conceding to the Opposition's demand that Home Minister Amit Shah appear in Parliament and explain the use of pellet guns in Delhi and AK-47 in Bihar during protests over examination irregularities.

The Minister, though, underscored that the Opposition must not create a "hungama (disturbance) during the House proceedings.

"The offer made by the government is very clear that it is ready to have a full and detailed discussion on students' movement and activities related to it. My only point made to the Opposition, including Congress, is that while the discussion and a reply are being made, the Opposition should not create disturbances to prevent the statement of the Home Minister. They must listen to the reply of the Home Minister and the government," Rijiju said.  

The concession follows the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's column in the 'The Hindu' today, titled 'Either Culpable or Incompetent', where he points out that the Home Minister has not ordered any inquiry or even issued a statement about the police crackdown on protesters. 

"His (Amit Shah's) inaction proves that he approves of the attack on students. He has not ordered any inquiry or even issued a statement. He has refused to come to Parliament, and motions filed daily by the Opposition asking for discussion have been summarily rejected," Rahul Gandhi wrote in his column.

Rahul Gandhi also spotlighted the use of pellet guns in Delhi and AK-47 in Bihar's siwan against students, saying that the "government tried to crush the youth's voice with a brutal assault". 

"They were attacked with tear gas shells, beaten with nail-studded lathis and shot with pellet guns," Gandhi said. 

Read: RAF Fired Pellets On Protesters On Orders Of Delhi Cop, Shows Police Document

Rahul Gandhi said he met 19-year-old Sahil Lochab, a student protester in Delhi, who had hundreds of pellets lodged all over his upper body.

"A pellet struck his eye, likely blinding him. Policemen wielding batons brutally assaulted young women, inhuring many on their private parts. Minors were beaten with lathis, their bones broken, gashes and bruises on their bodies. In Bihar, student protesters were shot with firearms, including AK-47, in Siwan, leaving many severely injured. Who authorised this illegal and unconstitutional violence," Gandhi said.

Demonstrations over the paper leaks in New Delhi turned violent on July 20, when huge crowds attempted to march towards Parliament from the capital's Jantar Mantar protest site. Police fired tear gas and used batons to disperse the protesters, triggering clashes and a wave of detentions.

Last week, when Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, demanded that the Home Minister deliver a statement on police action against protesters on July 20, Kiren Rijiju said that the Opposition cannot decide which minister will come to the House and when. 

Amid allegations of not attending Parliament, Rijiju claimed that Home Minister Shah comes to the Parliament complex daily.

"You all raise slogans and immediately leave the Parliament, whereas the Home Minister stays there from morning until late at night; yet, when he rises to reply, you will not be able to listen. You people lack the guts; you only engage in sloganeering and disrupt business," he added," Rijiju had said last week.