Amit Shah is ‘directly responsible’ for violence against students, says Rahul Gandhi

LoP Rahul Gandhi along with AISA members who participated in the hunger strike at Jantar Mantar along with CJP. | Photo credit: Shashi Shekhar Kashyap

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is “directly responsible” for the violence against students protesting against the leak of examination papers, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday (July 25, 2026), accusing Mr Shah of authorizing the use of firearms against protesters. All officials responsible for repression will have to be held accountable, Mr. Gandhi said.

“We hold Mr. Amit Shah directly responsible for the violence that took place against our students. He allowed firing on our students; he allowed the use of lethal weapons and firearms on our students,” Gandhi told reporters after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as Union Education Minister as demanded by protesters.

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“We will not accept that our own forces are shooting at the future of India. So this will be a major issue in Parliament,” Gandhi said, adding that the government would have to answer for the police action against the students. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should apologize to them for the “atrocities” committed during the protests, he said.

A deeper crisis

The Congress leader said Mr Pradhan’s resignation was “a victory for our students”, describing the former minister as “a symbol of corruption, destruction of the education system and incompetence”.

But he argued that removing one minister would not solve what he described as a deeper crisis facing education and employment in India.

Describing the agitation as a “warning to the BJP-RSS government”, Mr Gandhi said the protests exposed the collapse of education, job creation and institutional systems.

“This is a warning from Indian students; this is a warning from the opposition that you cannot run India the way you have run. This is not your personal fiefdom. This belongs to the people of India, this belongs to the Indian constitution,” he said, warning that unrest could intensify if the government did not change course.

“India’s future will beat the past”

Mr Gandhi also accused the RSS of draining India’s education system “like termites” and said concrete reforms would now be required. He argued that the country’s education system was “under attack, captured and privatized” and that the protests reflected wider anger over unemployment and the erosion of public institutions.

Describing the movement as a contest between the “past” and the “future”, Mr Gandhi said Mr Modi represented the past while the students embodied India’s future. “The past cannot fight the future,” he said, expressing confidence that “India’s future will defeat the past”.

Earlier in the day, Mr Gandhi met a group of protesting students from left-wing organisations, including All India Students’ Association national president Neha Bora, at 10 Janpath, Sonia Gandhi’s official residence, and assured them of continued support for the Congress.

Published – 25 Jul 2026 16:53 IST