He further alleged that Shah “disappeared” during the 20-day parliamentary standoff, despite his movements in and around Parliament being visible.(Express File Photo by Anil Sharma)After Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Wednesday that the government was ready to answer all questions raised by the Opposition, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi hit back, accusing Shah of being absent for the past 20 days and saying they were now making a last-ditch attempt to revive their position.“The balloon has burst, and now, at the last moment, they are trying to refill the gas. Amit Shah has no courage, the home minister has no courage,” Gandhi said.Responding to Shah’s offer for a discussion on the alleged police action against students during their July 20 march over the NEET paper leak issue, Gandhi said the Opposition was not interested in hearing what he called the minister’s “imagination”, “lectures or a discussion”. Instead, he said, the government must answer specific questions about the alleged use of force against protesting students.“We are interested in some simple things,” Gandhi said, asking who ordered police to shoot at protesting students, injure them, and use batons against them.“Who blinded one of the students and shot one of the students in the ear? Who gave the order to beat the students with lathis with nails?” Gandhi said, alleging that the orders were implemented by the Home Ministry.When a man lacks the courage to speak the truth, his silence speaks for him.Amit Shah’s silence is his confession. pic.twitter.com/allKZBCadh— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 12, 2026 “Did Mr Amit Shah give this order to shoot our children? If he did, he should resign because he is culpable. And if he did not, he should resign because he is incompetent,” he said.He further alleged that Shah “disappeared” during the 20-day parliamentary standoff, despite his movements in and around Parliament being visible.“He used to come here (Parliament complex). His cars would come and go. There were 30 cars around him. Students should know this. If you go outside his house, there were thousands of policemen so that the students don’t reach there,” said Gandhi.Story continues below this adGandhi also rejected the BJP’s allegation that he had remained silent on violence against students in Jharkhand.“I am not quiet on that. I have said that we don’t appreciate any violence against our students. I am openly saying this,” he said.The Congress leader also took aim at the media during his interaction with reporters, objecting to what he described as repeated interruptions while he was speaking.“Do you interrupt him (Shah)? Why don’t you? You interrupt us, but you never interrupt him. What is special about him? The whole media is like mice around him and stands quietly. Now, students are not scared in the country. And you shouldn’t be scared too.”Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More