# Rahul Gandhi hits back at Rijiju over student protest injury claim 2026-08-18T15:22:36+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has accused Union minister Kiren Rijiju of lying after Rijiju said no protester suffered serious injuries during the July 20 'Chalo Sansad' march. Rijiju praised the Delhi Police for handling thousands of demonstrators without a single death or broken bone, saying criminals infiltrated the student movement. In a post on X, Gandhi alleged that pellet guns were fired and nail-studded lathis used, leading to the loss of one child's eye and the severing of a girl's ear. He said he had met injured protesters and that videos of police action were widely circulated. Gandhi also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, saying Shah was absent during the monsoon session and Modi had not apologised. Rijiju countered that the government respects student sentiments and promised action against examination leaks. He said political groups including the Aam Aadmi Party, Bhim Army and Samajwadi Party incited violence. The Delhi Police have told the Supreme Court they used only graded and permissible force after protesters breached barricades. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The three sources present the same event but with different emphasis. Times of India leads with Gandhi's response and includes the full text of both leaders' statements, maintaining a neutral-report tone. NDTV leads with Gandhi's video and focuses on his accusation about nail-studded lathis, showing a slightly critical tilt by foregrounding the opposition's charge. Times Now leads with the police defence in court and Rijiju's praise, giving more space to the official account early on, though it includes Gandhi's rebuttal. The key factual disagreement is the severity of injuries: Rijiju says none serious, Gandhi alleges lost eye and severed ear. A careful reader should note that both sides agree thousands protested and police action occurred, the dispute is over proportionality and injury claims. The Supreme Court hearing on the police affidavit will be the next formal step. ## Coverage Coverage: 3 sources, 1 government-critical, 2 neutral - ndtv.com (government critical) Leads with Gandhi's accusation of nail-studded lathis, minimal Rijiju quote - timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) Presents both sides in full without evaluative language - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Leads with police defence and Rijiju, but includes Gandhi's full response This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources. Last updated 2026-08-18T16:21:30+00:00. Tags: Delhi Police, Jantar Mantar, Kiren Rijiju, Rahul Gandhi Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/rahul-gandhi-attacks-rijiju-over-police-handling-of-student-protests/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/rahul-gandhi-attacks-rijiju-over-police-handling-of-student-protests/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/