- By Aditya Jha
- Sat, 21 Feb 2026 02:44 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Shirtless Protest: Patiala House Court on Saturday sent all four arrested members of the Indian Youth Congress, who staged a shirtless protest at the AI Summit, to police custody for five days. The court rejected their bail application after the Delhi police told the court that the ruckus was inspired from the Gen Z protests in Nepal. While seeking custody of the arrested individuals, the police stated that the protest was to defame the country at the mega event. The authority also stated that it has launched a probe into the funding source behind the printing of T-shirts carrying messages such as “PM is compromised".
"This is a larger conspiracy that has taken inspiration from the Gen Z protests in Nepal. The accused need to be confronted with each other as well as with digital evidence. This is a very important investigation," police said. Earlier on Friday, several Youth Congress workers entered Bharat mandapam and staged a "shirtless" protest against against the recently announced trade deal between India and the US.
The protesters raised slogans against the NDA government and raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding T-shirts with slogans printed on them. The Delhi police later arrested four of the protestors and alleged a larger conspiracy to defame India at the event.
Among those detained and identified for legal proceedings are 35-year-old Krishna (IYC National Secretary from Bihar) and 33-year-old Kundan Yadav (IYC State Secretary from Bihar), Ajay Kumar (IYC State Vice-President from Uttar Pradesh) and Narasimha Yadav (IYC National Coordinator from Mahbubnagar, Telangana).
Several senior BJP leaders, including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, and IT-cell head Amit Malaviya, criticised the grand old party and its senior leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly defaming India. However, the Indian Youth Congress defended the demonstration by stating that their workers were raising a voice against a government that has "traded the identity of the country" at the summit.