In a congested court at Rouse Avenue, Delhi Police today shocked the capital by filing a bombshell affidavit accusing shirtless Youth Congress protesters who had bashed into the flagship AI Summit in India as the plotters of a Nepal-like conspiracy to cause anarchy. The theatrical confrontation was taking place in the backdrop of Kathmandu 2024 street protests, during which anti-government crowds overthrew the blocked roads in an attempt to derail the Nepalese technological push.
The frenzy that had been created in the previous week at the Bengaluru AI Summit, a glitzy show, featuring the presence of 5,000 delegates and the virtual nod of PM Modi to the dream of the 200 billion dollar AI project. At noon, 24 Youth Congress activists (who had painted their faces with anti-AI flags such as AI = Job Killer), removed their clothes down to their waist, rushed the security barriers, and chained themselves together to the stage. They were chanting End Corporate AI Raj as shirts with that printed on them waved. During the speech, NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam was nearly struck down by a mock AI Guillotine banner thrown by one of the protesters who later turned out to be protégue of Rahul Gandhi, Vikram Singh.
Security scrambled; slight lathi charges were the result. Eight were arrested, packed into vans with viral videos that had a 10 million view count. Jump to Delhi FIRs in BNS Sections 353 (assault on public servant) and 124A (sedition-lite conspiracy) got them to court. Introduce the police affidavit – a 25 page dropkick that painted the stunt as being part of a premeditated sabotage that resembled the Nepalese anarchic playbook.
Accused imitated Kathmandu gambit: shirtless provocation to avoid being grabbed, human chains to get the viral angle, and foreign-funded angles, vowed in court DCP Cyber Cell Rajesh Kumar. Evidence? Chats made on WhatsApp on confiscated cell phones revealed that the Nepal Module was organizing: Go naked like Madhesi demonstrators cameras adore it. The money was found in shady accounts of People’s Tech Resistance, which supposedly existed in the USA and were affiliated with non-governmental organizations operating in the USA which opposed India on the concept of digital sovereignty. One conversation: “Destabilize AI Summit as we did Digital Nepal Framework Nepal- reveal job losses!
Youth Congress hit back hard. Delhi chief Amit Rawat speaking to a presser outside court thundered: Police fiction! We are patriots against the dark side of AI – 2 crore young people jobs at stake according to ILO statistics. Shirtless? It is our deshbhakti, as Bhagat Singh! He had accused BJP of vindictiveness since AI was criticized by Rahul in Parliament. Interim bail granted by Judge Priya Sharma was followed by a promise of further agitations by the protestors: “Bengaluru to Bharat AI without equity!
Go deeper and the Nepal parallel hurts. In 2024, Nepali youth organizations, with the support of the diaspora, shirtlessly protested against a tech expo in Kathmandu, creating the necessity to reverse the policy on data localization. The dossier by the Delhi Police uses satellite maps of training camps in villages on the Haryana border, and IP logs of protest scripts downloaded on Nepali radical websites. It claims in the case of Indian Conspiracy to present India as failed AI state before G20 AI meet it claims IYC is an overground warriors of larger ecosystem.
Legal eagles split. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey posted: Rahul should be arrested next on sedition in digital form. The Democratic opposition in the congress MP Karti Chidambaram responded: It is democratic dissent, not Nepal 2.0. Police excessive to suppress youth. AI Summit fallout? The damage or destruction of property was reported to have been 5 lakh by the organizers, but the buzz was immense- registration increased by 20 percent after the creation of viral clips.
Bengaluru locals scowled on the ground. Auto driver Raju remarked: Protest acha tha but AI jobs to us? Techie Priya has added: “Nude drama draws focus out of actual problems – GPU shortages, skill gaps. With bail hearing adjourned to March 5, the shirtless saga implies that AI is on a tightrope in India: trillion-dollar ambitions vs. street anxiety of automation apocalypse.
Police are taking more in-depth investigations: “Forensic audit incoming- Nepal links or no, anarchy will not fly. Youth Congress? Plotting sequels. In Viksit Bharat vs. Nyay, the story written by Modi, the new courtroom was the battlefield.
