Persistent on the demand of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's resignation over the July 20 crackdown on anti-paper leak protesters in Delhi, AISA president Neha Bora said the movement has evolved into a wider campaign seeking accountability from the Centre over the alleged police action.
Bora, who observed a 23-day hunger strike during the agitation said that the demand for Shah's resignation and the removal of Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar would continue alongside efforts to secure the release of arrested protesters. She emphasised that accountability cannot be limited to low-ranking officials.
"The buck stops at Amit Shah. The buck stops at the commissioner of police. If somebody has to resign or has to be sacked, it is these two people. No low-ranking official's suspension is enough for us," she said.Questioning the alleged use of pellet guns and excessive force during the July 20 march to Parliament, the chief of the left-wing students' organisation affiliated with the CPI(ML) Liberation said the government failed to explain why security personnel were equipped with pellet guns and "sticks covered with nails".
"We are still seeking answers. Why did you use pellet guns on protesters on July 20? Why were security forces given pellet guns? Why were sticks covered with nails, with which protesters were injured," she asked.Bora argued that regardless of whether the alleged actions were ordered by a magistrate or senior authorities, political responsibility ultimately rests with the Union home minister.
"If it happened on the magistrate's order, then what kind of home minister are you?... And if it happened on your order, then what kind of a criminal state are you running where pellet guns can be fired on ordinary citizens," she asked.Bora noted that the alleged police actions fundamentally changed the nature of the movement, transforming it from a focus on the paper leak issue into a broader political campaign against the government's handling of the protests.
"A very large section of people used to come to us every day and say that they kept voting for the BJP government, but today, because of their vote, we have to sit on a hunger strike. They would say that because of their vote, students are committing suicide, and now they are very ashamed," the AISA national president said.
"It (movement) is no more about Dharmendra Pradhan. It is about whether the government can be so barbaric with the common citizens of the country," Bora said, claiming that the sense of betrayal among students and the youth was now directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah and the Delhi Police commissioner.She reiterated that the demand for Shah's resignation is inseparable from the push for the release of protesters detained during and after the agitation.
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