Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking accountability for the “barbaric assault on students who were peacefully protesting in Delhi” on July 20, 2026.
Mr.
Gandhi asked Mr.
Shah whether the latter had authorised the use of “lethal force”.
Tear gas in India: The law, the science and the human cost Opposition parties are likely to raise this issue on the floor of the House on Monday (July 27, 2026), and demand an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources told The Hindu.
Peaceful protest is crucial to any democracy and it is the government’s responsibility to protect protestors and resolve their grievances through dialogue, the Congress leader said.
In his letter on Saturday (July 25, 2006), Mr.
Gandhi said students were demanding a fair and accountable education system, but instead of being heard, security forces had assaulted them with indiscriminate force, including lethal weapons and tear gas.
CJP to launch website to identify police personnel who used brute force on protestors during Parliament March “Hundreds have suffered serious injuries.
Women students have been assaulted by policemen, including by deliberately targeting their private parts.
Most shocking has been the use of lethal pellet guns,” Mr.
Gandhi said in his letter, a copy of which he posted on his X handle on Sunday (July 26, 2026).
Gandhi mentioned meeting 19-year old student Sahil Lochab, who could lose his eyesight because of pellet gun wounds, in a case that was first reported by The Hindu.
“As Home Minister, did you approve the use of lethal force, including pellet guns, against students?
If not, who did?
Are the people in plain clothes seen beating students with lathis police personnel or volunteers?
Who authorised their deployment?” Mr.
Gandhi said in his letter.
‘You should all go home now’: big announcement leaves many in disbelief When asked if the Rapid Action Force had been authorised to use pellet guns during the protest, G.P.
Singh, Director General, Central Reserve Police Force, spoke of a “post-event assessment”.
“Now, since the agitation has been called off, and assembled people have dispersed, we would make a professional post-event assessment, like we do after every major assignment, and then let you know the view of the Force Headquarters,” Mr.
Singh told The Hindu.
On Saturday (July 26, 2026), the Opposition leader directly blamed the Home Minister for the use of “lethal weapons and pellet guns” in police action.
“We will not accept our own forces shooting the future of India.
So, that is going to be a major issue in Parliament,” Mr.
Gandhi said.
Asked if the Opposition would disrupt proceedings in Parliament, Mr.
Gandhi said it would be decided in the meeting of Opposition leaders on Monday (July 27, 2026) morning.
The ‘cockroaches’ who refuse to crawl away But having tasted success with former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, the Opposition will surely seek to expand the frontier and corner the government on issues, including chadhawachori (temple donation theft), and the use of ethanol blended fuel.
Opposition parties, especially the Samajwadi Party (SP), are keen to corner the Narendra Modi government over the alleged embezzlement of donations to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Ahead of the Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh in early 2027, by highlighting the issue of donation theft, the SP is keen to make an impression upon the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) core voters — Ram bhakts or devotees of Lord Ram.
The Congress has already held over 50 press conferences on chadhawa chori, and has been pressing for the Prime Minister’s statement on the Ram Temple donation theft issue.
Related Stories Are pellet guns legal for crowd control in India? | Explained Amit Shah ‘directly responsible’ for violence against students, says Rahul Gandhi Ban use of pellet guns, electric shock batons by all police forces: disability rights outfits Opposition parties are also keen to flag the impact of using ethanol in fuel, which concerns the middle classes.
With the Cockroach Janta Party headlining the Gen Z protests and the government to keen on sidelining the Opposition, the latter would like to adopt an aggressive stance over the anti-paper leak Bill, which the government will introduce in Parliament in the second week of the monsoon session. (With inputs from Sobhana K.
