Parliament witnessed fresh disruptions on Tuesday as Opposition parties intensified their protest over the alleged police action against students demonstrating against the NEET paper leak, demanding an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The uproar forced both Houses of Parliament to be adjourned till 2 pm, with Opposition MPs raising slogans inside and outside the Parliament complex over what they described as the "brutal crackdown" on peaceful student protesters.
The protest follows the resignation of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan amid nationwide outrage over the alleged NEET paper leak. Although the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has withdrawn its agitation at Jantar Mantar after the Centre accepted key demands, Opposition parties have continued to target the government over the alleged use of force against students.
On Tuesday, Parliament was scheduled to discuss the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, aimed at strengthening India's anti-paper leak framework. However, proceedings were overshadowed by political protests.
At the same time, BJP-led NDA MPs staged a counter-protest, demanding the resignation of Punjab's Education Minister over allegations of question paper leaks in the AAP-ruled state. NDA members also sought a response from AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. BJP Rajya Sabha MPs from West Bengal, Sushmita Dev and Rahul Sinha, participated in the demonstration.
The Opposition questioned the alleged use of pellet guns and other crowd-control measures against students during the July 20 protest march to Parliament. The security operation was carried out by the Rapid Action Force (RAF), a specialised unit under the CRPF, with several protesters alleging pellet firing during the clashes.
The Opposition has maintained that the use of force against peaceful demonstrators was unjustified and has demanded accountability from the Union Home Ministry, while the government has defended the security arrangements made during the protests.
