Shah ‘authorised’ police excess on students, says Gandhi in LS; BJP demands apology

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that Home Minister Amit Shah had authorised police excesses against student protesters and that the RSS had "captured" the education system, triggering a massive uproar in the Lok Sabha during a debate on the bill to amend the anti-paper leaks law.

"The home minister is not here today because he is scared," Gandhi said, drawing objections from the treasury benches.

The home minister "authorised" violent action against students, the Congress leader alleged, referring to the crackdown by security forces during the march to Parliament on July 20 during the CJP-led protest on the NEET paper leak issue.

Speaker Om Birla immediately intervened, saying the discussion was not on the Home Minister.

"We are not discussing the Home Minister today," Birla said and added that he must provide proof to substantiate his allegations.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju objected to Gandhi's remarks and asked him to clarify the basis of his allegations.

"On what basis have you said this? This is highly objectionable. You should apologise," Rijiju said.

Gandhi also launched a sharp attack on the RSS, accusing it of influencing the education system and shaping what students are taught.

"The soul of the system has been captured by the RSS. Dharmendra Pradhan never ran the education ministry. The man and organisation that run the ministry is called the RSS.

"They (students) have to buy this nonsensical history that RSS fantasises about. Pradhan is the symbol. Your real enemy is the RSS. They are the people who want you to be andhbhakts," Gandhi said.

Gandhi said he was "very excited" and "reassured" by the student protests over the NEET paper leak issue and described them as an expression of the youth.

He said, "I was very excited, reassured by what the future of this country did on our streets. This was not anger, not violence, not hatred; this was an expression, deep expressions of the youth of this country, of the future generation of this country."

"All parties should respect this expression, including my friends in the BJP. If my friends in the BJP were to go and ask their own children about what their brothers and sisters were doing, they would find agreement among their own children. There is nothing wrong with what happened, and every Indian should be proud," he said.

Gandhi said a conversation with a group of students gave him perspective on how young people view education and knowledge.

"A good starting point would be a conversation I had with some students, young girls, which gave me a very interesting perspective," he said.

Recalling the interaction, Gandhi said he asked a student what it meant to be a student.

"The question I asked the girl was that you said you were a student -- what does that mean? Does it mean you study in a college, in a school, you read books? She said a student is someone who has an open mind (and) an open heart.

"A student is someone who accepts that he does not know everything. Whatever he knows will be superseded by new knowledge. He knows the universe is dynamic. He also understands that knowledge is constantly changing. The most important quality, she said, that a student has is humility," he said.

Gandhi said the student also described another category of people who believed they knew everything.

"They are absolutely convinced that they know everything. They believe that the universe is static and they believe that knowledge emerges from inside them. They are arrogant. They don't listen, they don't respect other people's truth," the leader of opposition (LoP) said and used a word, which was objected to as "unparliamentary" by the Chair.

The remark triggered an uproar in the House, with Speaker Birla asking Gandhi to focus on the debate.

Rijiju also objected to the use of the "unparliamentary" word. Gandhi said he was attributing the term to a student and was not referring to any member of the House.

Birla said unparliamentary expressions would be expunged from the proceedings.

Gandhi further said the student told him that the hallmark of a student was that they "wear the truth on their chest", while the other category needed to create an image.

"And as that image is not true because ... is trying to pretend he is God, he has to create this image," he said.

"I asked about the third category -- andhbhakt. He is absolutely convinced that ... is God," Gandhi said.

He said the framework came from an 18-year-old student and argued that the protests, though centred around examinations, reflected wider concerns about the education system.