Rahul Gandhi slams Centre over ‘police brutality’, Rijiju lists Congress-era incidents

A heated exchange unfolded on Wednesday between Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, centering around the police response to recent student protests against the NEET examination paper leak. The dispute ignited on Tuesday when Rijiju defended the Delhi Police, asserting that no lives were lost or injuries sustained during the demonstrations. Gandhi vehemently disputed this claim, accusing the government of downplaying "police brutality" against students.

In response to Gandhi's criticisms, Rijiju presented a list of incidents where police used force and caused fatalities during protests under previous Congress-led governments. These included the use of Air Force bombers in Mizoram in 1969, demolitions and firing during the Emergency in 1976, anti-sterilization protests in Muzaffarnagar in 1976, the Nav Nirman movement in Gujarat in 1973-74, the Moga agitation in Punjab in 1972, the Multai farmers' agitation in Madhya Pradesh in 1998, and police firing at protests in Sompeta and Kakarapalli in Andhra Pradesh in 2010 and 2011.

Additionally, he referenced the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project protest in Maharashtra in 2011, where a protester was killed in police firing.

Gandhi responded by condemning Rijiju's comparisons, stating that the "fundamental mantra of this government is untruth and violence" and accusing Union Home Minister Amit Shah of absenting himself from Opposition questioning during parliamentary sessions and failing to apologize to the protesting students.