Police can break bones but not satyagraha: Rahul Gandhi slams police 'brutalities' against students

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday (October 16, 2026) claimed that Delhi Police is refusing to register an FIR on the "assault" of student protesters by security personnel, and asserted that police can break bones but not a 'satyagraha'.

The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha also stressed that "brutality by Home Minister Amit Shah's Delhi Police" will not go unchecked and the Congress will pursue every legal route against the officers responsible.

Mr. Gandhi made the remarks in a post accompanying the video of his recent interaction with some students, including those from the Congress' students wing NSUI, who were injured during recent protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the SIR process.

The Congress leader had met them at the 10, Janpath residence of Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday (October .

Keep track | CJP ‘Tiranga’ protest key highlights - October 16, 2026

"Delhi Police is refusing to register an FIR on the assault of our students. Two young women, Athira from Kerala and Ritu from Rajasthan, along with many others, were beaten by Delhi Police. I have spoken to Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and Rajasthan PCC President Govind Singh Dotasra. A Zero FIR has already been registered in Kerala," Mr. Gandhi said in his post on X.

"We will pursue every legal route against the officers responsible, in Kerala, in Rajasthan and in the courts. Brutality by Amit Shah's Delhi Police will not go unchecked," he said.

In 1930, at Dharasana, Sarojini Naidu led unarmed satyagrahis into police lathis, he said. "Not one of them raised a hand. The world watched."

"Police can break bones. They cannot break a satyagraha. India's youth, especially young women, are fearless, determined and united. They are standing up for our democracy, and I stand with them," Mr. Gandhi said.

In the video, Mr. Gandhi listens to the students and then calls up Mr. Chennithala and Mr. Dotasra, asking them to file an FIR against the policewoman who indulged in brutalities according to the students.

Mr. Gandhi says the idea is to set an example so that others think twice before committing such illegal acts.

After meeting the students on Wednesday (October 15, 2026), Mr. Gandhi had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come in the way of protesting students as they are the voice of the country.

He had assured the students that action would be taken against all -- from the prime minister to the police constable -- who acted against students during the recent protests.

Some of the protesting students also gave an account of the "inhuman" treatment meted out to them by police personnel during their detention and how they were beaten up by the cops.

The students claimed that they received several injuries as the police personnel hit them even in their private parts and abused them often in their bid to "teach us a lesson" for participating in the protests.

A large number of protesters were picked up by police and taken to detention centres far away from the city during the recent spate of agitations by student bodies as well as opposition parties against Mr. Kumar and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.