Rahul Gandhi Meets Young Protesters, Condemns Alleged Police Brutality at Jantar Mantar

· Students narrate how they were brutalised by police

· Rahul says, proud of them; they defended the idea of India

· Holds Amit Shah squarely responsible for police brutalities

· Dares Home Minister to face media like students did

NEW DELHI : Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi today held a meeting with young protesters from different states, many of whom were brutally manhandled by the police on July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

Later, at a special media briefing, the students, accompanied by Gandhi, gave firsthand accounts of the police brutality, describing how they were thrashed, beaten up, humiliated and fired upon with pellet guns.

The Leader of Opposition said he was proud of the students, who had displayed exemplary and extraordinary courage to defend the idea of India, protect the Constitution and save democracy.
He said that students narrated in detail how violence was unleashed on them by the police on July 20. He said, the students told him that they had been peacefully protesting and had not resorted to violence, and it was the police who started beating them up.

Gandhi also condemned the attempts of harassing and intimidating the students by sending goons to their homes and forcing them to tender apologies. He said, the students don’t need to apologise. “The question of students tendering an apology does not arise”, he asserted, adding he was proud of what they have done to defend the Constitution and democracy.
He noted that the students were only complaining about a broken education system, which is a useless and a flawed system. “The system needs to be changed and corrected, and that is all they wanted and they were beaten up for that”, he pointed out.

Lauding the courage of the students, he said that for them to come before the media was an act of great courage. “Despite facing harassment, violence, torture, they came here and spoke fearlessly and eloquently; and these are the type of youngsters country needs, and there are hundreds like them”, he remarked.

Gandhi said, unlike the young people facing the media, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah did not have the courage to come in front of the press.
He reiterated that the person responsible for violence, firing of pellet guns and assault on young women is Amit Shah. He said, he did not have the decency or courage to come to Parliament and answer questions.

The Leader of Opposition said, Shah either did not know about the violence, which means he is incapable of holding the position, or he ordered the violence including the firing of pellet guns, which means he is culpable. “He is responsible either way”, he said, holding the Home Minister accountable for the July 20 violence.

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Among those who addressed the media was Riya Ahir, who had stopped a police van in Mumbai to prevent the unlawful detention of 20 children. She alleged that she was now being harassed, but said she was happy that the young people she had stood up for were now standing with her. Other students, including Nutan Topo, Farha Naz, Bharat and Muskan Sharma, also spoke on the occasion, giving firsthand details of the police brutalities unleashed on them at the Jantar Mantar.

Rahul Gandhi Meets Young Protesters, Condemns Alleged Police Brutality at Jantar Mantar