Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi while speaking on the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill 2026, on July 29 issued an open threat to the police officials who were in action during the Jantar Mantar violence on July 20, that they will be held accountable in due course of time.
He said the Congress party had preserved the video recordings of the incidents and when the time comes, they will be held to account. The message was clear that if and when the Congress forms the government these cops will face the “retribution”.
This is unbecoming of the Leader of the Opposition and an aspiring Prime Minister of the country to issue vindictive threats, suggesting, “we will see you when we will be in power”, more like a street bully than a responsible leader whom a section of the population is looking forward to lead the country at some point of time.
Not that the Congress has any hope or scope of coming to power in the immediate future, still imagine the state of mind of all those cops who were fighting on the front against the violent mobs, claiming themselves to be the students. Visuals available in the public domain show how aggressively violent these people were. There was violence not only in action, but also even in their words, the way they abused the Prime Minister of the country.
Also read: The undefeated power of non-violent protest in India
Let it be clear that the July 20 protests by the Cockroach Janta Party were not peaceful at all. Their claims that anti-social elements had infiltrated into their ranks to defame them is no defence. Expecting our cops to “exercise restraint” under grave provocation is absolutely unfair and unacceptable. Our cops are on the frontlines against violence to curb and tame it and not for observing restraint.
It is sad that the government of India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah in particular has, so far, not come in defence of the cops from the Delhi Police and the CRPF. The government must take a clear and categorical stand that the cops did a brilliant job by controlling the violent mobs. Had the cops not acted, the streets of Delhi would have turned chaotic and anarchic.
Rahul Gandhi has been provocatively challenging Amit Shah that he is scared of facing the parliament in view of, what he claims, “police brutalities”. This is high time that Shah calls Gandhi’s bluff and accepts the challenge to debate the issue in the parliament.
Gandhi needs to be asked that should the violent protesters, most of whom were not even students, been allowed to have a free run? Should they have been allowed to stone the cops and damage the public property like police vehicles and buildings. And should they be allowed to hold the national capital to ransom? What was the point in marching towards the parliament? If the protest had to be peaceful, why did they need to leave Jantar Mantar and march towards the parliament and on the way attack the cops with stones?
The Congress and the other opposition parties are trying to make political capital out of the violence. It suits them to blame the violence on the police and CRPF which in turn they are trying to pin on the union Home Minister. He should ideally have owned up the action of the cops like the Director General of the CRPF Gyanendra Pratap, who assured his personnel that he will always stand by them.
A similar statement needs to come from the Home Minister also that the government firmly stands by the cops and what they did on July 20 to protect the national capital from being drowned into a cycle of violence.
The country cannot afford to make its security forces, who ensure peace and security within the country and in the process lay down heavy sacrifices, to be maligned like that. The nation owes them gratitude. It is the duty of the Home Minister to take the lead and assure our cops that not just the government but the nation stands by them. S/he who picked up a stone and threw it at the cops does not deserve any leniency. Cops did what they should have done. Don’t malign and vilify them for political point scoring.
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