New Delhi, 25 July (H.S.): Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday once again addressed the media alongside agitating students. Three student protesters were present with him and claimed they had sustained injuries during police action. Gandhi reiterated the three demands he has been pressing on behalf of the students: compensation, an apology and resignations.

Speaking outside Sonia Gandhi’s residence, Rahul Gandhi said the students’ first demand was that Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan be removed from the Cabinet. He said it would not be acceptable to simply shift Pradhan to another ministry and insisted that he must resign from ministerial office. Gandhi described Pradhan as a symbol of corruption and the collapse of the education system, saying the future of the country’s children could not be safe while he remained in office.

As his second demand, Gandhi said the police personnel and officials who ordered the baton charge and the use of pellet guns against students must be punished. Pointing to an injured student standing beside him, he said thousands of students had suffered broken hands and legs, and some had even lost their eyesight. He said all those responsible for the violence, whether organisers or those who carried it out, must be held accountable.

For the third demand, Gandhi said the Prime Minister must apologise to the students and to the country’s future. He said the Prime Minister is the head of the entire system, and responsibility for what happened to the students ultimately rests with him. Gandhi said these three demands were being made on behalf of the students and could not be compromised on.

Gandhi said he felt proud that the country’s youth were standing up to defend the Constitution and institutions. He alleged that the government was attacking students, threatening them and destroying their future.

He also recalled that he had spoken to the media the previous day and had then brought forward a student injured by a pellet gun on July 20, whose eye had been hit.

Over the past three days, Gandhi has remained actively engaged on this issue. On July 22, he held a press conference, presented figures and said that 152 question papers had leaked in the country over the past 10 years, affecting the future of about 7.5 crore students. On the same day, he staged a parallel sit-in outside the Prime Minister’s residence and was detained. On July 23, Rahul Gandhi and MPs of the INDIA bloc held a candle march and peaceful protest at Gandhi Smriti on Tughlaq Road.

The controversy began on July 20, when students under the leadership of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) took out a march to Parliament. Police used baton charges, fired tear gas shells and allegedly used pellet guns to stop the peaceful protesters. More than 100 students and several police personnel were injured in the clash.

Meanwhile, the Centre has approved a new law to curb question paper leaks. The law provides for punishment through fast-track courts within three months and prescribes up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to Rs 10 crore for offenders. The government says the move is in the students’ interest and is necessary to make the education system more transparent.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar