Pellet gun row rocks Home Affairs panel, sparks BJP-Congress war of words

New Delhi: A demand by Opposition MPs to discuss the alleged use of pellet guns and police action against NEET-UG protesters at Jantar Mantar triggered sharp exchanges in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs on Tuesday. BJP refused to suspend the listed business before the meeting spiralled into a confrontation regarding the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Congress MPs Ajay Maken and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sought to set aside the day's agenda to discuss what they described as police "atrocities" on students during the July 20 'Sansad Chalo' march, including the alleged use of pellet guns, lathicharge and delay in registration of an FIR in a pellet injury case.

Sources said Maken and Priyanka had written to the committee's chairman, BJP MP Radha Mohan Das Agrawal, on August 5 seeking suspension of the notified business to allow a discussion on the issue.


The meeting had been convened to examine 'Crime Against Children'. Congress leaders argued that many of those injured during the protest were students, including minors, making the issue directly relevant to the committee's mandate. RSP MP Chandrashekhar Azad also raised the alleged lathicharge on students in Meerut.

The exchanges soon escalated into a political slugfest after BJP MP Tarun Chugh said if issues outside the agenda were being raised, he too wanted to discuss Congress leaders' remarks glorifying a politician accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The remarks sparked a heated exchange with Congress MP Jai Prakash before the chairman stepped in. Chugh's comments were seen as a reference to Congress MP Deepender Hooda's remarks mourning former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, whom he described as a "loss to the country's political landscape".

Sources said Agrawal declined the Opposition's request and instead read out details of the Supreme Court's decision to constitute a five-member panel headed by retired SC judge R Subhash Reddy to probe allegations of police excesses and violence during the protests. He said the matter was under judicial scrutiny and asked members to proceed with the listed agenda.

Following the chairman's remarks, the panel resumed its scheduled business and heard presentations from officials of the ministries of labour and employment, school education and literacy, social justice and empowerment, and health and family welfare.