Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, flanked by five young activists who are facing harassment after the students protests at Jantar Mantar, criticised Union home minister Amit Shah and said, “Complaining about the education system, which is a flawed system, a collapsing system, a useless system, is not a crime.”

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After the five activists narrated their ordeals—including police atrocities, pellet injuries, online harassment and trauma, Gandhi said, “Complaining about the education system, which is a flawed system, a collapsing system, a useless system, is not a crime. If anything, the system needs to be changed; it needs to be corrected. That is all they were asking for. They were not doing violence, they were not being aggressive, they were not being nasty. They were beaten, assaulted and threatened,” he said.

Directing his critique at the top leadership, Gandhi alleged that the government lacked the moral courage to face questions directly, pointing fingers squarely at the Union Home Minister.

“They are young people who are standing here, in front of India’s press. But Amit Shah and the Prime Minister don’t have the courage to stand here. The person who is responsible for this violence, the person who had the pellet gun fired into this young lady, is Amit Shah - the Home Minister of India. He does not have the decency to come to Parliament; he does not have the decency or the courage to comment on what has happened,” said Gandhi.

Gandhi also raked up the issue of the 15-year old girl who had to publicly apologize for abusing the PM. “Forcing them first, sending goons to their house, forcibly demanding an apology of a 15-year-old girl and then accepting that apology is complete nonsense. We do not accept it. We want an education system that works, we want exam leaks to stop and we want the future of this country to be respected and protected,” Gandhi said.

Speaking about their harassment, Riya Ahir, who stopped a police van in Mumbai, said, “According to the media, I stopped the bus, but I am the girl who prevented the students from being forcibly arrested. The children I stood up for are now standing up for me,” she said, adding that she is yet to get a copy of the FIR she filed against harassment.

Jharkhand resident Nutan Toppo alleged that she sustained direct injuries from pellet fire during the July 20 protest at Jantar Mantar. Fahranaz and Muskan raised serious allegations regarding police excesses, communal profiling, and unprovoked baton charges by security personnel during peaceful assembly.

Fahranaz from Uttar Pradesh alleged police excesses during the demonstration. “Police goons were brutally beating me. The police said I was in a bus. He made us sit and asked us to make a separate list because he is a traitor to the country,” she alleged. Bharat Banait said, “I have never seen such a dark day in my life as what happened that day. Those whose heads were broken had their legs broken.”

Gandhi again blamed Shah for the violence against students. “There are only two possibilities: One, he did not know that this violence was being carried out on the children, in which case he is incompetent. Two, he ordered the shooting of the pellet gun and the violence on these children. It means he is culpable. Either way, he is responsible,” Gandhi added.