New Delhi: Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday (August 18) defended the Delhi Police’s action on protesters in the national capital last month and said that “not a single person died” and the police “should be praised”. Rijiju’s remarks have come despite the Delhi Police saying in an affidavit in the Supreme Court that 200 protesters have been injured. While Rijiju has denied the use of an AK-47 rifle in Bihar’s Siwan, in a separate affidavit the Bihar government has told the apex court that the weapon was used on protesters in Siwan but no one was injured. Further, Rijiju has said that not a single person suffered a serious injury. However, an RTI response has shown that ten people were injured by pellet guns during the parliament march on July 20. Following the protest in Delhi, hospital records and victim accounts showed serious injuries have been reported including of 25-year-old Irshad Sheikh, 19-year-old Delhi University student Sahil Lochab and a 28-year-old journalist who works with Outlook magazine. Separately, a 32-year-old woman named Nutan also sustained gunshot injuries in Delhi. Despite this, the minister has denied that any shots were fired and instead sought to deflect attention to action under previous Congress governments and said that “thousands died in gunfire” then, while in the youth protests last month not a single person died.Also read: Delhi Police Denies Use of Excessive Force During Youth ProtestsRijiju’s remarks came in an interview with ANI, where the interviewer asked the minister “Goli toh chali hai (shots have been fired)” but Rijiju hits back immediately to say: “Kaha chali? (where)”. When the interviewer says AK-47 was used, Rijiju then proceeds to explain how not a single person died in the police action on protesters.“I want to repeat this so that it is clear in your and people’s minds. Not a single person died, not a single person suffered a broken bone. Not even one protester is in the hospital with a serious injury,” he said. An injured protestor raises slogans during a protest march, at Sansad Marg, in New Delhi on July 20, 2026. Photo: PTI/Salman Ali.“Such a big movement, thousands gathered and in the grab of students so many criminals came. More than half the people – whether from the Aam Aadmi Party, the dafli-playing (hand-held frame drum-playing) people, the Bhim Army, or the Samajwadi Party – came and incited people to violence; yet there was not a single death,” he added. Rijiju then went on to say that the Delhi Police should be praised and pointed to previous Congress governments to say that if such a large-scale protest had taken place then, thousands would have died as had happened earlier.‘If such a movement had taken place during the Congress era – and many have taken place in which thousands of deaths have occurred – one should praise Delhi Police and the administration for handling such a massive protest without a death but not even a single serious injury. And here people are talking about bullets being fired,” he said. The minister added: “Thousands actually died from gunfire during the Congress era. The Delhi administration should be praised that not a single lathi was used during the protest. It was only in the end when they forcibly marched towards Parliament that they were stopped. There were no deaths, so should the Delhi Police be praised or not . Delhi Police maintained peace and police is only being abused. This is not correct.”Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi along with a victim of alleged pellet gun firing during a students protest march carried out by Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) on July 20, interacts with media, in New Delhi. Photo: Handout via PTI.The Wire had earlier confirmed the use of pellet guns against unarmed protesters in a report. Following the protest in Delhi, hospital records and victim accounts showed serious injuries have been reported including of 25-year-old Irshad Sheikh, 19-year-old Delhi University student Sahil Lochab and a 28-year-old journalist who works with Outlook magazine. Separately, a 32-year-old woman named Nutan also sustained gunshot injuries in Delhi. Also read: Delhi Police Denies Use of Excessive Force During Youth ProtestsWile Rijiju said “kahan chali” when asked about the use of AK-47 in Bihar, a departmental inquiry has been ordered against a policeman seen firing the rifle during protests in Siwan. A counter affidavit filed by the Bihar government in the Supreme Court has said that an AK-47 rifle was used in the state’s Siwan district but no one was injured. The affidavit has on the other hand said that four shots were fired into the air by one of the constables as he got trapped in the crowd, an ASI had fired two rounds from his 9mm pistol which resulted in three protesters suffering “minor firearm injuries”, LiveLaw has reported.The affidavit however has added that these three protesters were not injured by the AK-47, and that a state DGP had issued instructions on the use of the gun.Police try to evict protestors during a protest march near the parliament, outside RBI building in New Delhi on July 20, 2026. Photo: PTI/Gurinder Osan.In a counter affidavit in the Supreme Court, the Delhi Police has denied the use of excessive force on protesters but said that 200 public persons or protesters received injuries while more than 240 police personnel were injured, LiveLaw has reported. The affidavit has also denied the use of lathis with nails, as shown in videos, and said that it was a single case, which was in the hands of the protester and not the police and was a stick with the national flag attached to it.Also read: Gen Z is Not a MovementThe Delhi Police has also defended plain clothes police officials and said due to the urgency of the situation these ‘spotters’ from Special Branch, Special Cell, Crime Branch and Local Police strategically merged inside the crowd, which is neither illegal nor unusual.Rijiju has become the third union minister to deny that any shots were fired on protesters last month. Minister of state (MoS) PMO Jitendra Singh in parliament, and health minister J.P. Nadda at a press conference – have separately made the claim that no shots were fired.Singh on July 29 said in the Lok Sabha in response to leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi’s questions on whether Union home minister Amit Shah issued shooting orders that it had been “clarified repeatedly that no firing took place; only tear gas was used.” At a press conference on August 10, Nadda, while targeting Gandhi, said his intention was to disrupt parliament and that he was “misleading the country that shots were fired in Jantar Mantar.”The Wire has reported that while Modi ministers have couched their responses behind “no shots were fired”, the government has previously used the terms “firing”. “bullets” for pellet gun use in parliament. It has also used the word pellet or rubber bullets while referring to pellet guns and while the CRPF itself has used the word “firing” while referring to the weapon in a court filing.