New Delhi: A day after he was detained for staging a sit-in protest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday (July 22) said that he fully supports the protesting students and demanded Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, accountability for those who ordered and executed police brutality on protesters, and Modi’s apology to students.Addressing a press conference, Gandhi showed a video of the police brutality that was unleashed on protesters when they responded to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s ‘Sansad Chalo’ march on Monday (July 20). Gandhi said that the students had three legitimate demands, and the entire opposition stands with them.“The first demand, completely legitimate, is that Dharmendra Pradhan, who has failed as an education minister, who is known to be corrupt, should be relieved of his duties. This is a 100% legitimate demand. Nothing wrong with it. He has shown India and the world that he is incapable of running the education system,” he said.“The students’ second demand is that every single person who raised a finger on our students, the people who ordered it and the people who executed it should be made accountable. Third thing is that the man who is running this entire show, the man who is finally accountable, should have the decency to apologise to the students for what has happened,” he said, referring to Modi.Gandhi also said that there have been 152 paper leaks in the last ten years, which have affected 7.5 crore students, for which there have been no convictions.“There have been zero convictions despite 152 paper leaks,” he said.Gandhi said that education, which was considered to be one of India’s best assets has become a “rigged system.”“Every month, lakhs of students are told that all the stress you went through, you will have to undergo it again and ‘we don’t give a damn’,” he said.Gandhi said that families spend up to Rs 1.32 lakh crore annually on exams, which is nearly equal to the education budget of Rs 1.4 lakh crore, following which test papers are leaked.“But there is a more fundamental reason [why students’ are protesting]. Even after you acquire an education, you become a doctor or a lawyer or learn something, you’re suddenly told that the doors that should be open for you, what your country and your government owes you – a job – is closed,” he said.Also read: Rahul Gandhi Roughed Up and Forcefully Evicted From Outside PM’s HouseGandhi said manufacturing is closed as the market is flooded with Chinese products, entrepreneurship is closed, corporate jobs are being taken over by AI, the public sector is becoming increasingly privatised and the only option left is a government job.“We are in 100% agreement with what every student is feeling and there must be some consequences for what was done a few days ago,” he said referring to Monday’s police action on protesters.“This gentleman, Dharmendra Pradhan, has destroyed India’s biggest asset, what used to be called the best thing India had – our education system – has been wiped out. We fully support the students’ demands and every demand of every person who is on the streets,” he said.Gandhi’s press conference came a day after he staged a sit-in protest along with other Congress MPs outside Modi’s residence, where he was also joined by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. While the government had sent MoS PMO Jitendra Singh to talk to Gandhi and call off the protest, the leader of opposition continued the sit-in, following which he was roughed up as he was being detained by the police along with the other MPs.“My job is to express the will of India’s people. Whether it is the will of the students, the young people or the farmers, this is the job I am supposed to do as the Leader of the Opposition. I am supposed to become an expression of the voice of India’s people,” he said.“I am supposed to bring attention to where pain is being felt. These are very small costs, not big ones. It is a huge honour for me to do this, to be able to stand with the wishes of my people. So a couple of punches and all, that is not a problem at all. I am happy to take many more.”