New Delhi: Hours after Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said that the government is ready for a discussion on students’ issues, including a statement from Union home minister Amit Shah, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday (August 10) said the opposition and the country was not interested in his opinion on education but wants to know whether Shah ordered the shooting on students on July 20 or not. In response, however, Union minister J.P. Nadda became the second minister to claim that ‘no shots were fired’ at Jantar Mantar as he accused Gandhi of “changing goalposts” and “misleading” the country that firing took place at Jantar Mantar last month.Addressing a joint press conference in New Delhi, Gandhi, accompanied by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, said that from the beginning of the monsoon session, the opposition had three demands: Shah’s statement on the police action on protesters on July 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s apology and a discussion on the Ram Temple donation theft.“The Home Minister of India does not have the courage to stand by what he has done. That is the fact. No one in the opposition is interested in his opinions,” said Gandhi. “The country is not interested in what Amit Shah thinks about education. The country is interested in knowing: Did you shoot our children, Mr Amit Shah? And if you did, why?”Gandhi said that the country needed to understand Shah and Modi’s “character” and said that “for 15 days neither of them has had the courage to come to the House or guts to own up to what they have done.”“For 15 days, Amit Shah could not come to the House. I saw him in parliament but he could not come to the House. They are trying to put gas into the balloon of his image, but that is not going to happen,” he said.“Neither of them thinks that what was done to the students in Delhi is worth commenting on. This is what the real issue is.”Gandhi also said that he condemns the use of violence on protesters who were marching to the assembly in Jharkhand’s Ranchi on Monday. The Congress is in alliance with the JMM government in the state.“My message to the students of Jharkhand is clear. We condemn any violence against peacefully protesting students, does not happen where it is happening. We condemn it; we are against it; we do not endorse or support it. We are very clear on this, there is no confusion in our minds that attacking a peaceful protest with violence is wrong,” said Gandhi.‘No shots were fired’Following Kharge and Gandhi’s press conference, Nadda addressed a press conference in which he accused Gandhi of attempting to spread anarchy, misleading the country while changing goalposts, and said no shots were fired last month on protesters.“Rahul Gandhi is changing his goalpost every day in parliament and in the country’s narrative. His objective is not to engage in dialogue but to create anarchy,” Nadda said.“First, at the beginning of the Parliament session, he demanded a discussion on NEET. When we were ready for a discussion on NEET, he brought up the issue of the Ram Mandir. And after that, he insisted that the Home Minister should make a statement on the incident at Jantar Mantar. It can be seen that his intention is not to allow the House to function at all.”Nadda said that it was Gandhi’s intention to not allow the House to function, and he was “misleading the country that shots were fired in Jantar Mantar.”“This is why in the last 15 days he has been disrupting parliament and trying to start a discussion on the Jantar Mantar. Today when the discussion has been agreed upon, he is misleading the country that shots were fired in Jantar Mantar, whereas no shots were fired. The home minister is ready to speak on every issue,” he added.While both Modi and Shah have not yet issued a statement on the use of pellet guns on protesters who had responded to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s Sansad March on July 20, Union minister Jitendra Singh had last month said that “no shots were fired.”“Jab goli chali hi nai, toh aadhesh dene ka sawal paida hi nahi hota. (Since no firing took place, the question of issuing an order does not arise). And the authority to give such an order rests with the magistrate, not the minister,” Singh had said in the Lok Sabha on July 29.Nadda repeated this today, saying “no shots were fired in Jantar Mantar”, and asked Gandhi to come to the discussion in the House.“I once again challenge Rahul Gandhi: Come to the House. We are ready for a discussion, and you will receive a befitting reply. I would also like to clarify: Do not spread misinformation; no bullets were fired at Jantar Mantar, nor were any orders given to open fire there,” he said.Both Nadda and Singh’s statements come despite at least several reported instances of pellet gun use, though the Delhi Police has denied its use. An inquiry by the Central Reserve Police Force has revealed that pellet guns were used by the Rapid Action Force against peaceful protesters, despite being ordered not to do so.Outside parliament, after Gandhi’s press conference, Rijiju accused the leader of opposition of running away.“Rahul Gandhi has been asking for Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement in the House. Now that the government is ready and the home minister is ready to give a detailed response, Rahul Gandhi is running away. That is why I have said that running away out of fear is not right,” Rijiju alleged.“Leveling an allegation and running away is not right in a democracy. He has to face it. The home minister is ready to have a discussion, for as long as the Congress wants. I request Rahul Gandhi not to run away. Asking for the prime minister’s apology, all this drama will not work. Asking for a discussion and running away is what cowards do,” he said.