Amit Shah shielding man who attacked Dalit protester’s father: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of protecting a man alleged to have attacked the father of a Dalit student protester in Delhi and questioned whether authorities would act against the accused.

Gandhi extended his support to Nishu Azad, who had participated in a protest at Jantar Mantar in July and subsequently appealed to him for help. Nishu has alleged that the Delhi Police has failed to act against Swatantra Bhardwaj, a self-styled Hindutva influencer accused of attacking her father, Sanjay.

The controversy intensified after a video surfaced on social media in which Bhardwaj purportedly spoke about the assault and claimed that a telephone call from Delhi minister Kapil Mishra had helped him avoid imprisonment. In the video, he is also heard claiming that Sanjay sustained a serious head injury requiring 60 stitches.

Responding to Nishu’s appeal in a Hindi post on X, Gandhi assured her that she was not alone in her fight.

“Nishu, there’s no need to panic. I’m with you. It’s clear that you’re being targeted because you raise your voice for the rights of your community and students,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Gandhi also criticised Shah and the Delhi Police over their handling of the case.

“Amit Shah’s Delhi Police, on one hand, commits inhuman brutality against students. On the other hand, the criminal who smashed the head of a Dalit girl’s father is roaming freely in the open,” he said.

Addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, Gandhi asked why the accused allegedly enjoyed the protection of people associated with the ruling party.

“Will there be action now, or will you keep shielding someone?” he asked, adding that the Congress would continue supporting Nishu until justice was delivered.

Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal also attacked the government, alleging that a person accused of violence could publicly invoke his links with senior political leaders without fear of punishment.

“This is a regime of the thugs, the street goons, the rabid criminals,” Venugopal said in a post on X. He added that the Congress stood with Nishu and her father and would fight until they received justice.

Reacting to Gandhi’s intervention, Nishu said she had not expected him to raise the matter publicly and expressed hope that his support would help secure action against Bhardwaj.

“Now that I’ve got the support of a big leader like Rahul Gandhi ji, I’ll get justice, and Swatantra Bhardwaj will have to go to jail,” she said.

In an earlier video appeal, Nishu alleged that Bhardwaj had himself admitted to causing serious injuries to her father. She argued that he should have been booked for attempted murder and claimed that no effective action had been taken despite an FIR being registered more than a month and a half ago.

“The police are not doing anything and are befooling us in the name of medical examination,” she alleged, adding that she had turned to Gandhi after losing hope of receiving assistance from the authorities.

Nishu said people accused of such attacks should be imprisoned, particularly when they appeared to speak proudly about their alleged actions.

In the video circulating online, Bhardwaj is purportedly heard claiming responsibility for injuring Sanjay and acknowledging that the alleged offence could attract a charge of attempted murder.

“I cracked the skull of Nishu’s father,” he is heard saying, before claiming that the injured man needed 60 stitches and was taken away in an ambulance. Bhardwaj also purportedly said that he had not been jailed and remained free throughout the night.

He is further heard invoking the names of Mishra, Union minister Chirag Paswan and Modi while claiming that he had political support. These claims have not been independently verified.

The Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Citizens for Justice and Peace also targeted the BJP after the video emerged on social media.

PTI approached Mishra and Paswan for their responses to the allegations, but neither offered a comment.

With IANS inputs