New Delhi, July 30: Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday raised questions on Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s silence on the police crackdown on students protest on July 20 and asked if someone had “stitched” the home minister’s mouth due to his silence on the security crackdown on protestors and said that he cannot hide behind closed doors.
Speaking in the upper house after the Public Examination ( Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026 was tabled, the Congress leader also sought answers from Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over their absence from the Parliament’s Monsoon session.
He said, “You are the home minister. This was happening in Delhi. And yet despite all this happening, you did not open your mouth. Has someone stitched your mouth shut?”
Following Kharge’s comments, BJP leaders in the house, including JP Nadda raised their objections and flagged the statement as “unparliamentary.”
Maintaining that he did not speak anything unparliamentary, Kharge said, “They are firing pellet guns at children who have come from villages and from other states. One has lost an eye, another has lost an ear, someone else has lost a hand. Who is responsible for that? Many have fractured limbs. The Home Minister is responsible. You (Shah) may be listening to me from behind closed doors, but you cannot remain hidden in a closed room forever. One day, we will drag you out.”
He then clarified, “I did not use any unparliamentary language. By ‘us’, I meant ‘janshakti’ (power of people) — people, students, women. I did not say I will drag home minister, I meant that ‘janshakti’ will drag him out. Listen to me and reply.”
Commenting on the Bill, Kharge said “This bill does not contain provisions to prevent paper leaks. This bill was introduced solely to appease the protesting students. Under pressure from student protests, the Prime Minister was forced to remove Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
“How many innocent people are being affected by paper leaks, how many parents are worried? You have increased the punishment, increased penalties, and talked about setting up a special fast track code. But this is not going to be of any use. We demanded a stricter law in 2024, but you ignored our request. Why didn’t you do the work you are doing two years later in 2024?” Kharge asked.
He also alleged that Lok Sabha elections were looming in 2024 and we were raising the issue of students’ futures, “but if you did, you wouldn’t get credit, so you abandoned it”.
“Now you have hastily introduced this new proposed law,” he said.
“Why didn’t you speak to the students when they were protesting for over a month? On July 20, thousands of students were peacefully marching toward Parliament. They wanted dialogue. But they were met with lathi charges, tear gas, pellet guns, and electric barricades. You shut down their internet. You didn’t engage with them peacefully. Many students were injured,” he alleged.