New Delhi | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday expressed full support for the protesting students, saying their demands, including Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, are fully legitimate and non-negotiable. He claimed the government and its leadership were in panic and were therefore targeting students and opposition leaders.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha also said he did not care about the manner in which he was "dragged, punched and removed" from the protest site outside the Prime Minister's residence on Tuesday, stressing that his "job is to express the will of India's people" and "these are small costs".

Protesting students are not terrorists and are simply asking for an education system that works and is fair, Gandhi said at a presser as he backed the demands for an apology to students from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and holding everyone responsible for the assault on students accountable.

He said that "sensible" police personnel feel that action against students is a crime against the future of the country.

Addressing the press conference at the Indira Bhawan headquarters of AICC here, Gandhi alleged that the education system in the country is not only rigged, but it is also unaffordable to the poor and middle class.

He said while the poor suffer, those with money get through the exam system with paper leaks and that has to be changed.

He asserted that the three demands of students - resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, action against those who assaulted students and they be held accountable and the Prime Minister must apologise to students for what has happened to them, are non-negotiable.

Gandhi also said no one will be allowed to distract from the key issues of students and the atrocities against them. "In every government, there comes a time when psychologically they collapse, the leadership collapses and that has happened.

"The government is actually in panic. This reaction that they have done with the students is a panic reaction; what they were doing with us yesterday was a panic reaction," he said.

"How I was treated is irrelevant to me. I don't care. Treat me five times worse, I don't care. The focus has to be on what was done to students, on the education system, on paper leaks, and the costs that these children have been forced to pay. Do whatever you want to with me, five times, ten times (more), I don't care.

"In fact, I like it, because I learn from it," he said on the manner in which he was treated by the cops.

"I am used to getting punched; it was not a problem. It was fine," he said, claiming that his job is to express the voice of the people of India and bring attention to issues where pain is being felt. "A couple of punches are not a problem at all. I am happy to take many more," he said.

Gandhi claimed that the cops did drag him and remove him, but they "told me in my ear to remove this government and that sentiment is there".

"Even police are not happy about what has happened. Sensible police personnel feel that this is a crime being done to the future of the country and the people we love. They can see their children in them," he said.

A video of alleged "police brutality" against students during Monday's 'Sansad Chalo' protest was shown at the start of his press conference.

Referring to the police action, Gandhi said, "The question is why is this happening to our students. What have they done to have security forces aiming weapons at them, to be beaten up, to be thrashed?

"They are protesting peacefully, asking for what this country owes them. They are simply asking as students in this country - 'we deserve an education system that is fair'.

"Children have committed suicides, they go through unlimited stress, and there is a legitimate, very deep problem in this country, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

"The thing that is clear to everybody is that our education system, which was known to be one of the best education systems in the world, is a rigged system," he said. "Children have committed suicides, they go through unlimited stress and there is a legitimate, very deep problem in this country."

Gandhi claimed 152 paper leaks have taken place in the last decade, but no convictions have happened. He said 7.5 crore students have been affected by the breakdown of the education system. "But there have been zero convictions despite 152 paper leaks," he said.

"Every month lakhs of students are told that all the stress you went through, you will have to undergo it again and 'we don't give a damn'," Gandhi said.

"A group of people are destroying our education system and the lives of our students," he said.

The annual exam expense of families is Rs 1.32 lakh crore, which is nearly equal to the education budget of Rs 1.4 lakh crore, Gandhi claimed.

"This is pure theft from these families, and after you steal from them you tell them the paper is leaked," he said, hitting out at the government.

"We fully support these demands and every single student who is on the street," Gandhi said.

His remarks came a day after he, along with Priyanka Gandhi and SP's Akhilesh Yadav, were forcibly removed by police after they held a dharna outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence here, demanding his resignation.