Apologise, resign for crushing students’ valid protest: Rahul Gandhi to Modi, Shah

The political heat over the Jantar Mantar protest intensified on Tuesday as leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government, demanding an apology from the prime minister over the police action against protesting students and calling for the resignation of both Prime Minister Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah.

Speaking to reporters at Parliament complex, Rahul Gandhi termed the treatment of young protesters “completely un-Indian” and attacked the government for ignoring students’ concerns over the education and examination system.

“Modi ji has not even apologised for what has happened yesterday,” Rahul Gandhi said, referring to the police action during the CJP-led ‘Sansad Chalo’ march. “He should apologise to the students and stop this nonsense of police people thrashing students. It is completely wrong.”

Rahul Gandhi said he had met Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla earlier in the day along with other opposition MPs and urged him to allow a discussion on the students’ issues in Parliament.

“He (Birla) said he will have to ask the government. So understand, the Speaker is telling us that to debate in Parliament he has to take permission from the government,” Rahul Gandhi said.

The Congress leader said the protest was not merely about examinations but about the future of millions of young Indians struggling with uncertainty.

“These students are protesting over the education and testing system,” Rahul Gandhi said, adding that “the whole country knows that the education system and the testing system is broken and has ceased to exist.”

He alleged that the examination system had been weakened over time. “The testing system has been hollowed out by termites and that is what the students are stating,” he said.

The Opposition leader said students were fighting for opportunities and dignity at a time when competitive examinations had become the only pathway available to many young people.

“The young people of this country do not have any opportunities. All the doors are closed. There is only one door that is open, which is the door of the competitive exam — and that door is also destroyed,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi said the anger among students went beyond education reforms and reflected wider concerns about their future.

“They are saying that in this country today, because of Mr Adani and Mr Ambani, because of the RSS’ complete takeover of the education system, because of ‘pracharaks’ becoming vice chancellors of universities, we have no future,” he said.

“This is not just about education, this is about the future of young people,” Rahul Gandhi added.

Drawing a contrast between wealth and youth aspirations, Gandhi said many young people felt left behind.

“They look at Mr Ambani’s wedding and they watch thousand crores being spent over there, and they have no money to open a business if they want. They have no future,” he said.

“This is much bigger than simply education. This is students of this country saying — ‘In India, we have no future, we want a future’,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi said the students’ demands were legitimate and accused the government of failing to address their grievances.

“Instead of saying, ‘Okay, we are going to work to improve the education system, we are going to work to fix the testing system’, the prime minister — I don’t know what he is doing,” he said.

On the opposition’s demand for education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, Rahul Gandhi said the minister was only an intermediary and pointed towards the home ministry’s role.

“Absolutely, he should resign, but Dharmendra Pradhan has not beaten up these students. The home minister (Amit Shah) has. He should resign, and the home minister reports to the Prime Minister, he should resign,” Rahul Gandhi said.

Later, sharing a video clip of his remarks on X, Rahul Gandhi wrote in Hindi: “The country’s students are saying — ‘We have no future’. And this government’s ministers are saying — ‘We won’t lose our seats.’ In a country where students lose their future and ministers don’t lose their seats — there is no justice at all.”

The remarks came a day after thousands of young protesters gathered near Parliament during the first day of the Monsoon Session, demanding accountability over irregularities in national-level examinations and seeking the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The protest, organised under the banner of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), saw police intervention as demonstrators attempted to march towards Parliament. Protesters alleged that excessive force, including lathis and tear gas, was used to stop them.

The CJP alleged that several students were injured during the action and claimed that activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo, was pushed and manhandled. Delhi Police denied the allegations, calling reports of targeted assault “completely false and misleading” and stating that no individual was subjected to targeted action.

Meanwhile, Opposition parties intensified their attack on the government inside Parliament, demanding a discussion on the NEET paper leak issue. Proceedings on the opening day of the Monsoon Session were disrupted as the Opposition pressed for debate on examination irregularities and the concerns of students.

With PTI inputs