Published Aug 05, 2026 | 6:41 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 05, 2026 | 6:41 PM
Rhiya Yadav (left) questioned whether equal protection under the law was being applied.
Synopsis: Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of lacking the courage to face the media or Parliament over the police action against student protesters during the 20 July Sansad Chalo march. After meeting protesters who were assaulted during the violence, or having since faced online abuse and harassment, the Congress leader again alleged that Shah was directly responsible for the violence.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of lacking the ‘courage and decency’ to face the press or Parliament over the police action against student protesters during the 20 July Sansad Chalo march.
Addressing a press conference alongside young protesters who had faced police violence and sustained online abuse and harassment after the protest, Gandhi again alleged that Shah was directly responsible for the police action.
“There are young people standing here before India’s press, but Amit Shah and the Prime Minister do not have the courage to stand here,” Gandhi said.
“The person responsible for this violence—the person who had pellet guns fired at this young woman, the person who had pellet guns fired at the young man I brought here, the person who turned the police force against this young woman, who is simply asking for protection—is Mr. Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India. He does not have the decency to come to Parliament. He does not have the decency or the courage to comment on what has happened.”
Repeating allegations he had made in Parliament last week demanding Shah’s removal, Gandhi said there were only two possibilities behind the violence.
“Either he did not know that this violence was being carried out against these young people, in which case he is incompetent. Or he ordered the pellet-gun firing. He ordered the violence against these children, against these youngsters, in which case he is culpable,” he said.
“Either way, he is responsible.”
भारत के भविष्य को देखिए – युवा, निडर, बेबाक, देशभक्त।
और प्रधानमंत्री-गृह मंत्री? न संसद आने का साहस, न जवाब देने की हिम्मत। pic.twitter.com/XkNq1XohW7
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 5, 2026
Also read: Why the NDA hit pause on women’s reservation and the delimitation bill
The Jantar Mantar protest was followed by a coordinated online harassment campaign targeting women protesters.
Their names, photographs, phone numbers, home addresses and details about their families were circulated on right-wing social media accounts. In some instances, users identified women through vehicle registration numbers or older social media posts.
Women who were identified online reported receiving rape threats, death threats, abusive phone calls and messages urging others to “teach them a lesson”. The threats continued even after some women deleted social media posts or issued public apologies.
Gandhi met with several of the affected women, including model Rhiya Yadav, who drew national attention after stopping a police van carrying protesters in Mumbai.
One of the women protesters described the consequences of speaking publicly about the incident.
“If this goes out publicly, we are going to face even more abuse every single day. So what makes you stand here? They are Indians. Because if something wrong happens to me tomorrow, no one will come and stand by me if I do not raise my voice for others today,” she said.
“And, to be very honest, this is a country where the very people who are supposed to protect me were the ones beating me that day. So, as a woman of this country, please tell me: where am I supposed to go for my protection? Just tell me that.”
Similarly, Yadav questioned whether equal protection under the law was being applied.
“I have just one question for everyone watching this. Is justice available only if you are a constitutional office-holder, or, according to Article 14, is justice supposed to be equal for everyone? That is my question.”
