New Delhi: With just three days to go for the monsoon session to end, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday (August 10) said that the government is ready for a discussion on student protests, including a statement by Union home minister Amit Shah. Rijiju’s statement in the Lok Sabha came after the opposition had, since the first day of the parliament session, been demanding a statement from Shah on the police action unleashed on protesters in Delhi on July 20.The home minister has remained absent in the House through the session. The impasse between the government and the opposition, however, has continued with the latter demanding Shah’s statement, as well as a discussion on the donation theft at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.“The Congress party and Rahul Gandhi have been demanding a statement from the home minister. We are ready to give a detailed response. I request the Congress party and the Opposition not to be afraid or run away when the Home Minister gives his response. They must listen to the entire response and not disrupt,” Rijiju said in the Lok Sabha. “I have also stated publicly in the Business Advisory Committee that the government is fully prepared for a detailed discussion on the students’ issue and is ready to give a comprehensive response.”Rijiju’s statement came after a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC). After the Lok Sabha was adjourned amid the opposition’s calls for Shah’s statement, Rijiju told reporters that the government has made its offer but there “appears to be differences between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress.”“We have made it very clear that Home Minister Amit Shah will not only make a statement but also respond to the entire debate and discussion. We have already stated in the Business Advisory Committee meeting that the government is fully prepared for a comprehensive discussion on the student protests and is ready to address every single point; the opposition should not create a ruckus and disrupt proceedings,” he said. “We have made our offer. Now, there appear to be some differences between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party—which they need to resolve. As for the student issue, we are ready for a discussion. We have stated our position. Now, it is up to the Samajwadi Party and the Congress to sort out the differences between them,” he added.The opposition, however, said that the demands remain two-fold: a discussion on the Ram Mandir donation theft, and Shah’s statement on the police action.Also read: Day After Rajya Sabha Chairman Nudges Rijiju on Getting Amit Shah to Parliament, Minister Says ‘No Such Direction’“The Opposition have been demanding from the very first day that the Home Minister make a statement. The government is not ready to do so. There are two days left, and the government has time to discuss both issues,” said Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav. “It is not an ordinary matter that the offerings made to Lord Ram have been stolen. The faith of crores of people has been hurt. People who donated money, offerings and dakshina with faith and devotion…were government or BJP leaders involved in it? Who will ultimately answer for this? They have formed governments not once, but several times, by playing with people’s faith and devotion. Why does the government not want a discussion on this issue? And the second issue is the lathi-charge on young people and the way the children, youth and students were humiliated. “They were not only NEET aspirants. Along with NEET students, all those who appeared for examinations across the country and in Uttar Pradesh, including those who could not take their exams because of paper leaks, were present there. If they knew the road to the parliament they would have come inside. We are hopeful that the government will listen, and we want a discussion on both the issues,” he said.In a statement, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the “two demands are non-negotiable” and they cannot be delinked from each other.“From the very first day of the commencement of the parliamentary session on 20 July, the opposition parties have been consistently, resolutely, and vehemently raising the following demands- The Union Home Minister should make a statement on the brutality inflicted by the Delhi Police on protesting youth—Delhi Police operates directly under his command—and thereafter, there should be a discussion on this issue in both Houses of Parliament,” Ramesh said.“The Prime Minister should make a statement on the embezzlement of donations to the Ayodhya Ram Temple Trust, the theft of offerings, and the betrayal of faith. He had announced the formation of this trust with great fanfare in the Lok Sabha on 5 February 2020. Thereafter, there should be a comprehensive discussion on the entire matter in both Houses of Parliament. The opposition has made it clear from the outset that these two demands are non-negotiable. Now, under the Modi government’s last attempt to break the opposition’s unity and solidarity, these two demands cannot be separated from each other. Such attempts will not succeed,” he wrote on X.Opposition protestEarlier today, the opposition held a protest outside parliament demanding Shah’s statement, holding placards that showed his days of absence in the House. The protest also demanded a discussion on the Ram Mandir donation theft issue.Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, in a statement, said that nearly 20 days have passed since the police violence on protesters in the national capital who had responded to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s Sansad Chalo march.“Nearly 20 days have passed, but Amit Shah hasn’t even come to Parliament to answer on this matter. Every opposition proposal for discussion has been rejected. Their silence is not just negligence or oversight – it is an endorsement of the violence. They are either guilty or incompetent,” he said.“We demand an investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court. And until they are held accountable, this fight will not stop.”While the impasse continues, the government has passed several legislations within minutes in the course of the last two weeks.