New Delhi: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (August 5) said that the youth who protested in the national capital on July 20 are facing “harassment, violence and torture” following the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march last month, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah do not have the courage to face the country’s media.Gandhi, in an apparent reference to Modi’s remark that he “forgives” all protesters who had abused him, said that the youth had “done nothing wrong” and the “question of accepting an apology does not arise.”“They are young people who are standing here, in front of India’s press. But Amit Shah and the prime minister don’t have the courage to stand here,” said Gandhi.Gandhi was accompanied by four young protesters including Nutan, a 32-year-old woman who had sustained gunshot injuries during the youth protests in central Delhi on July 20.“The person who is responsible for this violence, the person who had the pellet gun fired into this young lady, is Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India. He does not have the decency to come to parliament, he does not have the decency or the courage to comment on what has happened,” he said.“There are only two possibilities: One, he did not know that this violence was being carried out on the children, in which case he is incompetent. Two, he ordered the shooting of the pellet gun and the violence on these children. It means he is culpable. Either way, he is responsible.”Though Gandhi mentioned the pellet gun while referring to Nutan, she has actually reported receiving a gunshot injury to her ear and not pellet injuries. At least four individuals were hit by pellets fired by the Rapid Action Force (RAF) on July 20, including a 19-year-old man who was seriously wounded in his right eye.Muskan Sharma, who was also one of the protesters accompanying Gandhi, said that she was peacefully marching but was attacked by a male RAF officer.“Why was I beaten when I was peacefully marching? There is a rule that a male officer should not use force against a woman. Then how did a male RAF officer assault me? Why did he try to jab a baton into my buttocks? The one who issued this order, if he comes and apologises to me then I will also be happy,” she said.Sharma also said that she was facing online harassment because of her name Muskan, which was perceived as Muslim.“This does not say anything about me but says a lot about the narrative being set in the country. If anyone speaks against the government then they are Muslim and labelled as anti-national,” she said.Along with Sharma and Nutan, 27-year-old Rhiya Ahir, who had stopped a Mumbai police van on July 22 carrying detained protesters, was also present.“I am the girl who stopped 20 young people from being unlawfully detained. I am being harassed; I would not call it trolling, as it is a crime. I had registered a complain on July 27 and till now I don’t have an FIR copy,” she said.Gandhi said that he was proud of all young people who had “done nothing wrong” and that the “question of accepting your apology does not arise”.“You don’t have to apologise to anybody. You have not done anything wrong,” he said.“Sending goondas to women’s houses, forcibly seeking an apology from a 15-year-old and to accept that apology is complete nonsense. We don’t accept it. We want the future of this country to be respected and protected,” he said.Gandhi was referring to the FIR lodged against a minor girl by the Noida police on July 31 for allegedly using “abusive language against Narendra Modi”. Last week, Modi in an Instagram reel said that he “forgives” all those women protesters who had abused him.While the girl had said she has been threatened with rape, The Wire had on August 2 reported that neither the local nor the Delhi police appear to have initiated a probe against those doxxing and harassing her.