Youth Congress chief’s mother slams his arrest over AI summit protest

The mother of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) chief Udey Bhanu Chib on Tuesday condemned his arrest as unjustified and politically motivated, while the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) asserted that no action would deter its workers from continuing their fight against the “wrong policies” of the BJP government.

Rajni Bala, mother of Chib, said that the action reflected the government’s “authoritarian” and “high-handed” approach, asserting that peaceful protest is a fundamental democratic right.

Chib was arrested by Delhi Police in connection with a shirtless protest staged by a group of IYC workers during the AI Impact Summit in the national capital last week.

Defending the protest, Bala said there was “nothing shameful” about the symbolic act and argued that poverty and unemployment were the real concerns confronting the country.

“Everyone knows this is a dictatorial government where anyone who protests is arrested. Protesting is not a crime. Raising people’s issues and fighting for the country’s youth, who are roaming unemployed, is not a crime.

“People’s livelihoods have collapsed, businesses are suffering and raising voice for them is not a crime. As for the shirtless protest, I do not see anything shameful in it. There are people in our country who are so poor that they do not even have shirts to wear, that itself is a matter of shame,” she said.

On Friday, a group of IYC workers staged a protest inside Hall No 5 of the summit venue by removing their shirts to reveal T-shirts printed with slogans against the government and the India–US interim trade deal before being escorted away by security personnel.

Drawing a parallel with Mahatma Gandhi’s simple attire during the freedom struggle, Bala said protest methods should not be misconstrued as disrespectful.

She also questioned “selective action” by the authorities, alleging that they were quick to detain protesters but failed to act in instances where serious allegations surfaced against a university for presenting a Chinese robot as its own innovation at the India AI Impact Summit-2026, or against Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

“Are there two sets of laws in the country?” she asked, demanding equal application of the law. The JKPCC extended support to Chib.

“JKPCC stands in solidarity with the young leadership of IYC chief Udey Bhanu Chib, a son of Jammu and Kashmir, for raising the voice of the country’s youth through peaceful protest. Nothing will deter our cadres from fighting against wrong policies of the Modi government through democratic modes,” JKPCC chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said in a post on X.