New Delhi | In a blistering attack on the government over alleged police excesses against students, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack Home Minister Amit Shah and order a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the "brutalities".
The Leader of Opposition alleged that he was not allowed to speak in Lok Sabha earlier in the day and everytime he tries to speak there, he is "silenced".
Either Shah ordered that students be shot with pellet guns and beaten with lathis having nails or he was unaware, Gandhi said, referring to the crackdown by security forces during the July 20 Cockroach Janta Party-led protest march to Parliament.
"If he ordered it, he is culpable and if he did not know then he is incompetent," Gandhi said at a press conference.
Responding to a question, Gandhi said an image had been created that Shah is the "hero of the nation" and Modi is like 'God' but that "image balloon has burst".
"A balloon was inflated. Thousands of crores of rupees were being squandered to inflate that balloon. Media, Delhi Police, RAF... everyone has been roped in so that the image's balloon doesn't burst. Why are children being threatened to protect their image so that they don't come on the streets? But they do not understand that the image balloon has already burst," Gandhi said.
In a reference to Modi's Instagram video last week announcing the setting up of fast-track courts to deal with paper leaks, the former Congress chief said the prime minister comes at midnight and thinks that he keeps the phone in front of his face close so that he is able to communicate with Gen Z.
"The problem is your image, the problem is what you have done to students, the problem is how you have destroyed their future, the problem is what you have done to the economy, that is the problem and that image is gone," Gandhi said.
He also accused the government of targeting students who participated in the protests that led to the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan from the post of education minister.
Asked about reports of action against students, Gandhi said, "I am doing this press conference right now because I am concerned about that. I am concerned that in the shadows, silently, the home minister, I know his approach and his thinking and the establishment are right now attacking the students who were on dharna."
He alleged that the administration was using facial recognition, students were being threatened and Bajrang Dal people were beating them up.
"That is why I am standing here today because I want to bring attention to this. I want every single student and their parents to know that the government is doing this. These are our children, they are our future and the government has no business attacking them, threatening them, beating them, even touching them," he said.
Gandhi said the students had not done any crime and should not be punished.
"If they had done some crime, I would be the first person to say they have done a crime, they should be punished. These boys and girls have done nothing wrong, they cannot and should not be punished," he said.
Gandhi said that a pellet gun is a lethal weapon and if used from close range, it can even take a life.
"I brought before the press a young man who is a victim of the pellet gun, with pellets embedded in his body That young man's eye has pellets in it. The medical report from AIIMS mentions pellet gun injury. The victim of the pellet gun is not just one, but many. There is complete evidence that the pellet gun was used, but the Modi government is not ready to accept it," he said.
Referring to the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026, that was passed by the Lok Sabha during the day, Gandhi said the bill is not worth discussing.
The students are saying that the education system is not working, papers are getting leaked and they are going through immense pain but the government's response is that it will increase the punishment from one year to 10 years, Gandhi said.
The bill states that it accepts paper leaks and will merely punish those responsible, he said.
"But we are saying that: we do not accept paper leaks. Change the system so that there will be no paper leaks. Remove the Vice-Chancellors appointed by the RSS. The Bill has been put in place so that the RSS can escape," he said.
Hitting out at Shah, Gandhi alleged that the home minister does not have the courage to come to Parliament.
"He doesn't have the guts to stand in front of you like this... So we don't expect him to come, but we know he is responsible. And we will not let him get away with it," he said.
Gandhi claimed that he was not allowed to speak in Lok Sabha.
"Multiple times, I asked the speaker to bring order to the house so that I can speak. Multiple times, (Union minsters Kiren) Rijiju, Rajnath Singh were allowed to speak and the excuse was that I said something about Home Minister Shah," Gandhi said.
"I said Shah was responsible for the brutality that was carried out. I was given an assurance that if I apologise, I will be allowed to speak. I will never apologise to the BJP-RSS," he said.
It is my right to raise issues that are important to the country, Gandhi asserted.
The "brutalisation of our students" assault on our students is a fundamental issue, he said.
"... I saw with my own eyes Amit Shah calling the police officers... I saw Jitendra Singh getting call after call from Shah, so he knew what was going on the streets," Gandhi said, without specifying its timeline.
Pointing to a picture of Shah on the screen at the press conference, Gandhi said to students, "This is the man who beat you, thrashed you, humiliated you and shot you with pellet guns."
"We will ensure that the students who were beaten get justice, and people who shot students with pellet guns are punished," he said.
So it is our advice to the prime minister -- sack Shah and order a probe monitored by an independent high-powered committee of the Supreme Court.
Earlier, in Lok Sabha, the Leader of Opposition alleged that Shah had authorised police excesses against student protesters, triggering a massive uproar during the debate on the bill to amend the anti-paper leaks law.
