Youth Congress showed PM compromised India's integrity: Supriya Shrinate

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate defended the Youth Congress protest at the India AI Summit, stating it exposed how PM Modi's US trade deal compromised the nation's integrity and would harm farmers and hand over data to America.

Congress Defends Youth Wing's Protest

Congress leader Supriya Shrinate backed the protest staged by the Indian Youth Congress during the India AI Impact Summit, saying that they demonstrated how "PM Modi compromised the integrity" and identity of the nation through the India-US trade deal.

"I'm curious to know what wrong the Youth Congress has done. The Youth Congress is the voice of this country. The youth went and protested peacefully. And who is outraged by this protest? What's the outrage? Did these young people demonstrate how the Prime Minister has compromised India's identity with this agreement? How did he make a compromise through this interim trade deal that will destroy India's farmers and hand all our data over to America?" she criticised. Further, Shrinate said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is the voice of every person. "Where is your anger when such huge pits are dug, and people fall into them and die, or children die due to contaminated water?... Will those people who brought fake Chinese robots to this summit display their fake anger?... Rahul Gandhi is the voice of every person who is being oppressed by the Modi government," she said.

'Protest is our right': Himachal Minister

The Horticulture, Revenue and Tribal Development Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Jagat Singh Negi, echoed similar sentiments, citing that the protest was peaceful and the presence of the Chinese AI dog was "anti-national" in itself. "They called China's AI robot our own -- what could be more anti-national than this... Protest is our right. We were protesting peacefully, and no one can stop us from doing so..." he said.

Police Action Against Protesters

Meanwhile, Indian Youth Congress Chief Uday Bhanu Chib was called in for questioning regarding the protest on the same day. Delhi Youth Congress President, Akshay Lakra, stressed that four members of India Youth Congress are being held for interrogation, further adding that a case has been registered under 10 different sections.

"They will be asking us everything through videography and related evidence. A case has been lodged under 10 different sections at Tilak Marg Police Station. Four Youth Congress members have been taken into custody and are being held for investigation. The most distasteful aspect is that the case has been registered under non-bailable sections. My question is how does it fall under a non-bailable section if someone simply says that the Prime Minister is compromised? They have even added conspiracy charges under Section 120B, suggesting that others were involved..." he said.

Differing Views on the Incident

Meanwhile, BJD MP Sasmit Patra said that the AI Impact Summit was a global event with numerous political leaders at prersence. In such a scenario, the nation should have put up a unified front. He vouched for discussions and dialogue instead of such stunts that damage the reputation of the country.

Rahul Gandhi's Attack on AI Summit

The protest followed Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi attacking the Government on the organisation of the summit and saying, "Instead of leveraging India's talent and data, the Al summit is a disorganised PR spectacle -Indian data up for sale, Chinese products showcased." (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)