Kiren Rijiju hits back at Congress over "shirtless" protest at AI Summit, accuses party of justifying "obscene" act

New Delhi [India], February 21 (ANI): Hitting out at the Congress over Indian Youth Congress' "shirtless" protest at Bharat Mandapam during the AI Impact Summit, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju accused the party leaders of justifying such "obscene" rather than apologising to the nation.
Speaking to the reporters in the national capital, Rijiju said that at a time when the whole global community and tech leaders are in India and praising the country's leadership in the field of Artificial Intelligence, the Congress workers were indulging in "obscene" behaviour at the AI Summit venue.
"Yesterday at Bharat Mandapam, when people from the global AI and tech community had come to India and were praising India, under the leadership of India's Prime Minister, India had taken a very positive initiative to unite the world and move it forward under India's leadership. There was praise everywhere, and heads of state, heads of government and many well-known personalities from leading countries of the world were appreciating India and working together in unity," Rijiju said.
"At that time, some workers of the Indian Youth Congress came there and indulged in obscene behaviour, and everyone has seen the photographs. No matter how much it is condemned, it is still less," he added.
Furthermore, the Union Minister further termed the act a crime against the nation, adding that he thought the Congress party would introspect and apologise for the incident; however, in reply, their leaders ended up justifying the issue.
"This is not a mistake; this is a crime -- a very big crime against the nation. The Indian National Congress has committed a serious offence against the country. When we woke up in the morning, we thought that if the Congress party had even a little concern for the nation, they would introspect and apologise. But when we saw in the morning, instead of apologising, several Congress leaders were justifying this obscene act," said Rijiju.
He asserted that several Congress leaders called the protest the anger of youth, adding that if it's used to defame the country, there cannot be anything more shameless than this.
"They were saying this is the anger of youth. If the anger of youth is used to defame the country, then nothing can be more shameful than this. When any work is done in the national interest, no matter which government is in power, it is not about politics. And when someone represents the country, there is absolutely no politics involved in it," he added. (ANI)