Only tear gas used, no shots fired at protestors, says Centre; demands Rahul Gandhi’s apology

New Delhi: The Centre rejected the Opposition’s allegations that Union Home Minister Amit Shah ordered the crackdown on student protestors by the Delhi Police and the Central forces on July 20. On that day, the student protestors led by the CJP started a march to Parliament demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and reforms in educational institutions in the country.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, on behalf of the government, Union Minister of State, Jitendra Singh said, “It was repeatedly clarified that no shots were fired, tear gas was used. Since no shots were fired, the question of issuing an order does not arise. The authority to issue such an order rests with the magistrate, not the minister.”

The clarification came after Rahul Gandhi made remarks against the Union Home Minister in the Lok Sabha, while speaking on the Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026.

During the debate on the Bill, Gandhi alleged that Shah had “authorised” violent action against the students. The Leader of Opposition said, “The Home Minister is not here today, because he is scared.” His remarks drew massive protests from the treasury benches.

Following the uproar in the House, the Speaker Om Birla reminded Rahul Gandhi that the discussion was not about the Home Minister. He advised him to stick to the topic of discussion that is the anti-paper leak Bill. He also asked him to provide evidence for the allegations he was levelling against the Union Home Minister.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Kiren Rijiju also intervened. He said, “On what basis have you said this. This is highly objectionable. You should apologise.”

During in speech in the Parliament on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi said that the RSS was exerting influence on the Education Ministry. He said, “The soul of the system has been captured by the RSS. Dharmendra Pradhan never ran the education Ministry. The man and organisation tat ran the Education Ministry is called the RSS.”

Gandhi also defended the recent student protests at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and in several parts of the country. He said that he was “very excited” to see the protests. He said that the agitation was an “expression, deep expression of the youth of this country.”

Gandhi then used a term which was later expunged from the House records. This led to an uproar and the government alleged that Gandhi was using unparliamentary language. The Congress leader said that he was only quoting a young student’s words, but the remarks were dropped by the Chair from the House records.