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Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, KC Venugopal and several other Congress leaders were detained by Delhi Police on Tuesday, July 21, after leading a march towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence to protest the alleged police brutality against students.
The Congress leaders had marched to the residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding his resignation along with the resignation of the Union Home Minister Amit Shah for “destroying the future of India’s youth.”
The Congress MPs including Priyanka Gandhi staged a sit-in outside the PM’s residence with chants of “Pradhan Mantri istifa do” (Prime Minister give your resignation).
Sharing a photo of the protest, the Congress MP wrote on social media: “We have marched to PM Modi’s house to demand answers from him for the brutalities against young students yesterday. The Government doesn’t want to take any accountability or does it want to have a debate on it in Parliament. PM and HM must resign for destroying the future of India’s youth.”
Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi, along with INDIA bloc MPs, met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and demanded a detailed discussion in Parliament on the police brutality against student protesters during the 'Chalo Sansad' march in Delhi the previous day.
The Congress leader said the Opposition would not allow the alleged brutality against students to be “buried”. “We will ensure that the students’ voice will be heard on the streets and in Parliament,” he said.
The previous day, Delhi Police and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) lathicharged protesters who attempted to march towards Parliament demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak controversy. The march was called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on a hunger strike in support of the CJP’s demands for education reforms. He was forcibly detained by the police on July 18.
Hundreds of students and activists participated in the protest march. The police prevented them from reaching Parliament by suspending mobile internet services, shutting several Metro stations, and using lathi charges, tear gas and detentions to disperse the crowd. Several protesters were injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, a petition was filed in the Delhi High Court over the excessive use of force against the protesting students in Jantar Mantar. Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya however responded saying “Don’t drag the court into all this."
