The Opposition on Tuesday demanded a discussion in Parliament on the police’s lathi-charge on protesters during the political campaign Cockroach Janta Party’s demonstration in Delhi on Monday.

The campaign on Monday alleged that the police had fired pellet guns at the protesters. The Union government classifies pellet guns as a “non-lethal” weapon for crowd control. Its cartridge contains pellets made of rubber or plastic, which can damage sensitive parts like eyes when fired from a short range.

The Delhi Police refuted the claims that pellet guns were used against the protesters. It also claimed that the protesters “resorted to large-scale violence” and vandalised public property.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court said on Tuesday that it intended to allow activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on a hunger strike as part of the campaign’s protest, to be shifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, Bar and Bench reported.

The campaign resumed its demonstration at the Jantar Mantar protest site on Monday evening to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for the alleged mismanagement of competitive examinations. The police had cleared the area during the day and dismantled the stage from where organisers had been addressing the crowd.

Here’s more on this and other updates:

Opposition demands discussion in Parliament

  • Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, met House Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday to demand that Parliament must have a discussion on the “brutality unleashed on students” and “the government’s complete lack of accountability for the examination crisis”.
  • Students were beaten for asking legitimate questions about their own future, Rahul Gandhi said on social media. “If Parliament cannot discuss the future of India’s youth, what is it for?” he asked. The Congress leader said that the Opposition “will not let this be buried” and ensure that the students’ voice is heard on the streets and in Parliament.
  • The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were being repeatedly adjourned on Tuesday amid ruckus as Opposition MPs raised the lathi-charge on the protesters.
  • Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi met the injured persons at the RML Hospital, PTI reported. Union Health Minister JP Nadda also met doctors at the hospital.
  • Later in the day, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and several other Congress leaders staged a protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence in Delhi.

Protesters, police personnel injured

  • Saurav Das, a spokesperson of the campaign, shared videos of two persons on social media who were injured allegedly in the police action against protesters on Monday. “Alarming goondaism by the Delhi Police!” wrote Das. “They have used pellet guns against peaceful protesters!”
  • The Delhi Police on Tuesday released the statement refuting the claims about the use of pellet guns. “The public is strongly advised not to share or circulate unverified content,” it said. “Appropriate legal action will be taken against individuals found spreading rumours or misinformation.”
  • On Tuesday, the Cockroach Janta Party alleged that the police had on Monday slapped a boy, who the campaign claimed was a 10-year-old.
  • The alleged action came during the campaign’s march to Parliament on Monday, coinciding with the start of the Monsoon Session. While police had stopped the protest leaders from proceeding, some demonstrators moved closer to Parliament and gathered at other locations in central Delhi. Security personnel fired tear gas shells at the protesters and lathi-charged them, Scroll reported.
  • The police stated that 60 protesters were injured during the day. One of the injured protesters is in a critical condition, said Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke. “Why did the government unleash such brutal force against the youth?” he asked on social media.
  • The police claimed that 118 security personnel had been injured after the “protesters displayed unruly, aggressive and violent behaviour”. It alleged that the protesters attacked them with stones and vandalised government vehicles.
  • Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party, apologised to the political campaign’s supporters saying that the organisers of the protest “could have done better” to protect them from the “inhumane actions” of the police. He alleged that female protesters were “brutally beaten” by male police officers. “To protect one Dharmendra Pradhan, who is responsible for the deaths of more than 20 students, the government was willing to spill the blood of many more young students,” Dipke said on social media.

Protesters detained

  • About 70 protesters have been detained, said the police, adding that a first information report was registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to rioting, assault on public servants, damage to public property and “other offences committed during the protest”.
  • It did not clarify which other offences the protesters had allegedly committed.

Watch: Young protesters in Delhi face police lathi-charge and tear gas

Proposal to shift Wangchuk to Medanta

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court recorded a statement by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the Centre has no objection to transfer Wangchuk to Medanta Hospital. The Union government also submitted that he should remain under continuous medical supervision and should not be discharged except for the advice of the Medanta doctors, ANI reported.

The activist is currently at the government-run Safdarjung Hospital. His wife Gitanjali Angmo has filed a petition before the High Court seeking that he should be shifted to a hospital of his choice.

Protest resumes at Jantar Mantar

  • The campaign resumed the protest at Jantar Mantar on Monday evening, stating that the demonstration would not end until Pradhan resigns from his post.
  • Earlier in the day, Das along with another spokesperson of the campaign, Ashutosh Ranka, met Bharatiya Janata Party Nadda at his residence in Delhi and submitted a memorandum. Apart from Pradhan’s resignation, they demanded activist Sonam Wangchuk’s release from the Safdarjung Hospital and a Rs 1 crore compensation for the families of undergraduate National Eligibility cum Entrance Test aspirants who died by suicide.
  • Ranka later told the Hindustan Times that “the meeting turned out to be useless”. “No response has come from them,” he was quoted as saying. “Next time, we will not talk to them till they come to the protest site. If they do not value our time, we also do not value theirs.”
  • The medical parameters of Wangchuk, who has continued his hunger strike, were stable, PTI quoted the hospital as saying on Tuesday morning. The activist was receiving oral rehydration therapy but “continues to decline intravenous fluids...despite repeated medical advice”, the hospital said. Wangchuk had begun his fast on June 28.

Opposition MP begins sit-in at Parliament

  • Azad Samaj Party-Kanshiram chief and MP Chandra Shekhar Azad began a sit-in protest inside the Parliament complex against the “brutal treatment meted out” to the protesters.
  • “In a democracy, every citizen has the constitutional right to express their views peacefully,” he said. “If that right is met with the use of force, it is not merely an assault on a few individuals, but on democratic values themselves.” He added that he was starting his demonstration with a “resolve to safeguard democratic values”.

Written by Sneha and Neerad Pandharipande. Edited by Nachiket Deuskar and Tanya Shrivastava.

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