Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday sat on a dharna outside the Parliament Street police station in Delhi with student protester Sahil Lochab, demanding an FIR into the alleged use of pellet guns during a July 20 student protest.
Gandhi, who has repeatedly questioned who ordered the alleged firing, arrived at the police station with Lochab and his family and refused to leave until an FIR was registered.
Police officials told Gandhi that the Supreme Court has already constituted a five-member High-Powered Expert Committee to examine allegations of excessive and disproportionate use of force during the student protests. Gandhi, however, insisted that an FIR should be registered.
Congress said, “We stand for students. We stand for justice. We will not be silent,” as Gandhi and Lochab began the sit-in outside the police station. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra later joined them.
Gandhi alleged that Lochab was hit by a pellet gun while peacefully protesting at Jantar Mantar on July 20 and that he had suffered serious injuries to one eye.
Displaying pellets that he said had been removed from Lochab’s body, Gandhi claimed that more than 200 pellets were lodged in his body, including three in his eye, and cited medical reports from AIIMS and Lady Hardinge Hospital.
“If the police did not fire these pellets, then somebody must have fired them,” Gandhi said, demanding that an FIR be registered to establish who was responsible.
The Delhi Police has denied using pellet guns against the student protesters. The Rapid Action Force, a riot-control unit of the CRPF, was deployed during the protests, although the CRPF has not publicly confirmed whether pellet guns were used.
The July 20 protest was linked to a student agitation over the NEET examination controversy and demands for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
BJP attacks Rahul Gandhi
Union Minister J.P. Nadda accused Gandhi of indulging in “cheap, attention-seeking politics” and alleged that the protest was intended to divert attention from the Congress’ ongoing controversy over Vande Mataram.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad also accused Gandhi of “politics of anarchy” and said police had informed him that the matter was already being investigated and that the Supreme Court had constituted a committee to examine the allegations.
Gandhi had earlier written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking accountability over what he described as a “barbaric assault” on peacefully protesting students and asking whether the government had approved the use of pellet guns.
