150 academics slam Youth Congress for 'disgraceful' AI summit protest

Over 150 academicians condemned the Indian Youth Congress' 'shirtless' protest at the India AI Impact Summit as 'shameful,' fearing it damaged India's image. The act drew widespread political criticism, and Delhi Police have made five arrests.

About 150 academicians from across India on Monday condemned the Indian Youth Congress' "shirtless" protest during the India AI Impact Summit, terming the act "disgraceful and shameful," Director of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation, Binay Kumar Singh, said in a press release.

Academic Community Condemns Protest

According to the release, a broad cross-section of India's academic and intellectual community has issued a formal collective statement expressing deep concern over what it described as the highly inappropriate conduct of leaders from the Indian Youth Congress at the India AI Impact Summit.

The signatories observed that the summit represented a significant moment for India to showcase its technological capabilities, strategic roadmap, and expanding leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) before the global community.

In such a context, they stated that any disruption at an international forum of this stature was ill-timed and potentially damaging to India's credibility, particularly at a time when the country's AI ecosystem is receiving heightened international attention.

More than 150 academicians from across India, including Vice Chancellors, Former Vice Chancellors, Directors, senior professors, researchers, and intellectuals, have united through a coordinated signature campaign to register their strongest possible condemnation, the release said.

The signatories have stated in unequivocal terms that the actions of leaders of the Indian National Congress present at the summit cannot be defended as democratic dissent; rather, they amounted to a reckless and deeply irresponsible attempt that risked sabotaging India's global image at a critical moment of technological assertion.

The academic community has characterised the episode as shameful in the highest order. To convert such a platform into an arena for partisan theatrics, the signatories observed, reflects a grave failure of judgment from Congress and a disregard for the larger national interest.

The initiative reflects the academic community's commitment to responsible public discourse and to protecting India's technological standing as it strengthens its role in the global AI landscape, the research foundation said in the press release.

Widespread Political Criticism

The Youth Congress' protest at the Bharat Mandapam drew criticism from several leaders across the nation. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to other BJP leaders, everyone lambasted Congress and demanded that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to apologise. Even Congress' INDIA bloc ally, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, noted that the party could have refrained from such an act.

Police Action and Arrests

Meanwhile, Delhi Police have arrested Jitendra Yadav from Gwalior in connection with the protest at Bharat Mandapam. This marks the fifth arrest in the ongoing investigation into the demonstration held during the India AI Impact Summit 2026. Prior to Yadav's arrest, four other leaders, Krishna Hari, Kundan Yadav, Ajay Kumar and Narasimha Yadav, were apprehended and remanded to five days of police custody by the Patiala House Court. (ANI)

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