New Delhi – July 29: The political fallout from the July 20 “Sansad Chalo” student march has intensified after AISA National President Neha Bora publicly held Union Home Minister Amit Shah responsible for the police action that left several protesters with serious injuries, including permanent eye damage.
In an interview with The Wire, Bora, a Jawaharlal Nehru University PhD scholar and one of the prominent faces of the nationwide movement against examination irregularities and paper leaks, declared that “the accountability has to lie with Amit Shah. Amit Shah is the last man responsible for what the RAF does, what the Delhi police does, and what the security personnel do. Here, what happened during the protest was Amit Shah’s decision. We do not believe that it happened without Amit Shah’s approval. Amit Shah has to be held responsible…”
Having herself completed a 23-day hunger strike during the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led agitation, Bora argued that responsibility for the handling of the protest rests with the Home Ministry, which oversees Delhi’s policing and security apparatus.
The July 20 demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and Parliament Street saw thousands of students march towards Parliament before security forces, including the Delhi Police and the CRPF’s Rapid Action Force (RAF), dispersed the crowd. Medical records and official documentation have since become the centre of a growing controversy.
A General Diary entry from Parliament Street Police Station reportedly records that RAF personnel, acting under operational orders involving a Deputy Commissioner of Police, fired shells, including ballistic cartridges containing plastic pellets. At least four protesters suffered pellet injuries.
Among the most seriously injured was 19-year-old Sahil Lochab, who was carrying the Indian national flag when he sustained a pellet injury to his right eye. Doctors have reportedly indicated that the likelihood of restoring his vision is minimal. Journalist and protester Irshad Shaikh also underwent surgery after pellets struck his eye, neck, and other parts of his body.
Delhi Police has maintained that it neither possesses nor uses pellet guns. However, the reported RAF deployment and diary entry have intensified demands for an independent inquiry. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has written to Amit Shah seeking clarification on whether the use of pellet ammunition or other potentially lethal force was authorised, describing the incident as a “barbaric assault” on peaceful student demonstrators.
Although the nationwide protest concluded following Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, Bora’s remarks have ensured that the debate over accountability has moved beyond the streets and into Parliament, where questions over the use of force, command responsibility, and the rights of student protesters continue to dominate the national conversation.
JANPATH NEWS NETWORK (JNN)
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