NEW DELHI: Former Union minister Kapil Sibal on Friday referred to the alleged use of pellet guns against student protesters by security forces in Delhi, saying that the Congress government had “never used” pellet guns or resorted to lathi-charge against demonstrators, unlike the current BJP-led government.His remarks came a day after Union minister Kiren Rijiju shared a video from 2011 featuring Sibal, who was then a Union minister, addressing a press conference on the India Against Corruption movement, which had challenged the Congress-led UPA government.In the video, Sibal, who is no longer associated with the Congress, had said, “Right to protest is not the right to protest at the place of your choice.”Sharing the clip, Rijiju called Sibal a “Dimagi Naxal” and remarkeed that the senior advocate had exposed the Congress’s “secrets” and “thoroughly torn Rahul Gandhi to shreds”, referring to the Congress MP and Lok Sabha leader of the opposition.In a subsequent post, Rijiju questioned whether any “new laws” governing protests had been introduced since 2014, when the BJP came to power.Hitting back at Rijiju at a press conference in Delhi, Sibal first questioned the former law minister’s legal experience.“I wish I could have seen him somewhere in court — in my 50-odd years at the courts, at least I have not seen him in the corridors of the court,” he remarked, accusing the BJP MP of criticising others without understanding the facts.Rejecting the claim that the UPA government had opposed protests, he challenged the minister to cite instances when the Congress-led government had used pellet guns or resorted to lathi-charge against demonstrators.“We never ensured that people don’t protest. In fact, on one occasion… in a Cabinet meeting this issue was discussed, and my colleagues said, ‘Look, this is a right under the Constitution, you cannot interfere with this right, this is a constitutional right,’” Sibal added.He also highlighted the role of protests in India’s Independence movement, arguing that they could lead to another form of independence.Criticising Rijiju’s handling of parliamentary affairs, Sibal remarked, “As far as Parliamentary Affairs is concerned, we know how he (Rijiju) runs Parliament. That is his expertise: to ensure that the voice of the opposition is not heard for which he should get a medal of some kind.”“They don’t allow us to raise the issues we want to raise. They don’t allow us to protest. They pass bills without a discussion. They are unconcerned with parliamentary procedures. The manner in which Parliament was functioning was unprecedented in India’s history,” he added.
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Sibal further stated that the Congress would allow Rijiju to speak if he found himself in the opposition in the future: “Rijiju ji, please remember: history repeats itself.”Clashes broke out between student protesters and security forces in Delhi on July 20 as demonstrators marched towards Parliament, demanding the resignation of then Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper controversy. The Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force were accused of using pellet guns to disperse the protesters and stop their march.Pradhan resigned on July 25, bringing the protests to an end.
