3 min readUpdated: Aug 12, 2026 03:34 PM IST
Breaking his silence on the ongoing logjam in Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said he was ready to answer all questions from the Opposition on the action taken by security personnel against protesting students at Jantar Mantar.
Addressing reporters at Parliament, Shah said the Opposition should write to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla by 2 pm and that a discussion could begin at 3 pm, with him responding to all questions. “I want to tell the Opposition that you write to Speaker (Om Birla) by 2 pm, we will begin the discussion by 3 pm and at 3 pm I will answer everything,” he declared.
#WATCH | Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah says, “First of all, terms like ‘laapata’, ‘bhaag gaye’ are the kind of language increasingly being heard in India’s public and parliamentary life. I have been coming to Parliament regularly since the session began; I sit in my… pic.twitter.com/sLaYv9fFSn
— ANI (@ANI) August 12, 2026
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Shah said a matter as serious as the students’ protest could not be addressed through a mere statement and insisted that it should be taken up through a proper parliamentary debate.
“Rules and procedures have been made for discussion in Parliament; someone asks me to just give a statement — something as serious as this cannot be debated like that. This may be in your tradition but it is not the Parliamentary tradition,” he said.
He said the government was even willing to suspend Question Hour, subject to the Speaker’s approval, to allow an extended discussion. “I am ready for a discussion at 3 pm tomorrow. I will be present myself, I will write everything myself and reply to the discussion so that everything is clarified in front of the people of the nation. So that there is doodh ka doodh and pani ka pani.”
PARLIAMENT LIVE UPDATES | ‘Not interested in lecture’, Rahul Gandhi responds to Amit Shah
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Shah also took exception to Opposition leaders describing him as ‘laapata‘, ‘bhaag gaye‘ and ‘bhagode‘, saying such terms had only recently entered public and parliamentary discourse. “Since the session started, I come to Parliament regularly, I have sat in my chamber,” he said.
He also blamed the Opposition for preventing Parliament from functioning, saying there was little purpose in attending the Houses if proceedings were continuously disrupted.
“Because the Opposition is just not letting Parliament function — not its Houses, what will one do after attending them?” he asked.
Shah also referred to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju’s statement that the government was ready for a comprehensive discussion on the NEET students’ protest.
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“This is what they had demanded initially, we agreed. On my part too, I have said that I am ready to answer all questions in Parliament. But they just do not want a discussion to take place,” he said.
Shah ended by putting the onus on the Opposition to decide whether it wanted a debate or continued disruption, saying, “Now the people should decide who is running away.”
Responding to Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that the INDIA Bloc is not interested in listening to Shah lecturing them or his imagination.
