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Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge addressed the issue of the crackdown on students near Jantar Mantar in a press conference on Thursday. He said that for the past 15 days, the entire opposition has been insistent on demanding that the Home Minister personally come to the House and answer questions.

Mallikarjun Kharge said that injustice and atrocities were committed against the students. The way they were lathi-charged and fired upon was wrong.

He said, “These things shouldn’t have been used. Pellet guns, tear gas, batons, electric batons, nail-studded batons—everything was used against the students. The students didn’t cause any disturbance. Did they destroy 20-50 government vehicles? Did they stop any leaders and question them? They were protesting peacefully, but the methods used to disperse them were utterly wrong.”

Kharge demanded that the Home Minister himself come to the House to give an explanation. He said, “What compels him to come to the House and answer? This can only mean two things. One, he thinks this issue should be ignored. Second, he is afraid. I simply want to ask that we demand your presence in the House to address the pain you have caused the students and their parents.”

He said, “They are not coming to the House, so the House is unable to function. The responsibility for the House not functioning lies solely with Home Minister Amit Shah, not with the members of Parliament. That is why we have raised this issue again in the Rajya Sabha today.”

The Congress president said the opposition wants the prime minister to apologize and the home minister to make a statement in the House. He added, “Whether it’s Jharkhand, Punjab, or Delhi, we stand with the students. We will continue to fight to resolve their problems.”