NEW DELHI, JUL 27 (PTI): The Congress on Monday slammed the BJP over allegations that AK-47 rifles were used to target protesting students in Bihar, with Rahul Gandhi demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apology and action against those who “attacked” the students.
A police constable has been suspended after a video purportedly showing him using an AK-47 rifle during a student protest in Bihar’s Siwan district on July 25 went viral on social media.
Siwan SP Puran Kumar Jha told PTI that no one was injured in the firing and an inquiry has been initiated as there were clear instructions to the police force not to open fire during the demonstration.
In an X post in Hindi, Rahul Gandhi said, “The entire system is downright murderous against students. Reports are coming in that AK-47s have been fired at protesting students in Bihar, and hundreds have been arrested and booked under FIRs.”
“Modi ji, what happened to your promise that no FIRs would be filed against students and that they would be released? Instead, they are being subjected to deadly attacks and brutality,” he alleged.
“Pellet guns were used against students in Delhi, and AK-47s in Bihar. Whether it is Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar or Delhi – the pattern is the same everywhere.
“I have said it before: This government is dishonest. Reform is beyond its capability. It will renege on its promises and use every tactic to suppress the students’ voices,” Gandhi said.
He also called on Prime Minister Modi to apologise to the country’s students and take action against those who attacked and brutalised them.
The BJP, however, accused the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha of trying to manufacture a protest and create an atmosphere of anarchy by alleging that AK-47 rifles were used against agitating students in Bihar, and demanded that he apologise for spreading “canards and falsity”.
The ruling party termed Gandhi’s statement “not only deeply unfortunate, but a sin”.
Reacting to reports of the use of AK-47 rifles, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the protesting students are not terrorists.
“Even now, FIRs are being registered against students in Bihar and West Bengal. I have heard, though I have not verified it, that parents of girls who participated in the protests received calls asking why they had allowed their daughters to join the demonstrations.
“Can’t girls protest? Pellet guns, AK-47s… Are they terrorists? What is wrong with these people,” she said.
“What was the need for AK-47s and such weapons at the protest site? The students are not terrorists,” she added.
Congress MP P Chidambaram said AK-47 is an assault rifle, which is usually deployed when police forces are fighting terrorists or extremists.
“It is never – never – used to contain civilian protest. The AK-47 weapon should have never been issued by the armoury to a policeman deployed to contain a civilian protest,” the former Union minister said.
Not only the policeman who used the AK-47, but also the armoury in-charge who issued the weapon should be suspended and subjected to disciplinary action, Chidambaram said on X.
Congress general secretary in-charge organisation, K C Venugopal, attacked Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue.
“Where is Amit Shah hiding? He should explain who ordered the use of AK-47s in Bihar and pellet guns in Delhi during the students’ protests,” Venugopal told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Congress MP Manish Tewari said the fundamental question is whether it is justified to use pellet guns or AK-47 rifles against unarmed and non-violent protesters.
“The answer is absolutely no. The Supreme Court has laid down a standard operating procedure for handling protests. Authorities must first announce prohibitory orders, then use water cannons if required, followed by lathi-charge, tear gas, and only in the most extreme circumstances can firing be ordered by the duty magistrate or the senior-most police officer present.
“What happened to unarmed students in Bihar was barbaric, inhuman and an atrocity. Excessive and coercive force should never be used without clear orders from the highest level,” Tewari said.
Left-wing student organisations held demonstrations across Bihar, some of which turned violent, on Saturday in support of a statewide bandh against NEET paper leak and police action on protesting students.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, also alleged that police fired AK-47s at protesters during the protest in Siwan.
During the Cockroach Janta Party-led ‘Sansad Chalo’ march in Delhi on July 20, police and security forces used batons and tear gas to disperse protesters, which largely included students, leaving scores injured on both sides.
