Bad publicity: On AI Summit, Youth Congress protest, police action

The India AI Impact Summit 2026, in New Delhi last week, was ostensibly a gathering of industry hands from global and Indian technology communities, and showcased to the general public to inculcate an awareness of the tech phenomenon that is already revolutionising economies worldwide. But the summit also revealed an unedifying aspect of officialdom and exhibitionism. This was evident when a private university participating in the convention falsely claimed a Chinese-made robot to be its own development. Or in how “VIPs” and various functionaries hogged the limelight and blocked product developers and AI enthusiasts from attending the summit on some days. Then there was a protest by some activists of the Indian Youth Congress (of the Congress party) who staged a non-violent “flash mob”-like protest against the India-U.S. interim trade deal. These events only reflected the underbelly of technological promotion in India and its politicisation, as both the BJP-led government and the Opposition sought to use the glare over the summit for publicity rather than public interest. Granted, the Congress party’s use of the summit’s media coverage and the venue to stage a protest was inappropriate. But the Delhi police, which arrested the activists in the protest, has also blown the actions out of proportion by registering charges that range from rioting, promoting enmity between groups, making assertions prejudicial to national integration, criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly and common intention. The flurry of arrests also triggered an unprecedented standoff between the Delhi and Himachal Pradesh police following the detention of some of the activists in Shimla.

Too often in recent years, officials in the Union government and BJP-led State/UT governments have treated even peaceful dissent as crimes that are equivalent to riotous and violent actions. This has been the case in the arrests of student activists dissenting communally coloured actions of these governments such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, with many charged under draconian laws and held without trial just for peaceful protest. The BJP-led governments have sought to demonise dissent and muzzle opposition by civil society forces and the Opposition. It is difficult not to read the charges framed against the Youth Congress activists in the same light. It hardly needs stating that dissent is a vital component of democracy, especially in a country that won freedom through acts of dissent and nonviolent protests. The police must desist from filing unrelated and outrageous charges against the activists and courts adjudicating on such cases of dissent — including those against the Youth Congress activists — must quash these FIRs forthwith.