New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi delivered a lecture on the topic ‘Learning to listen in the 21st century’ at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom on Tuesday evening. Gandhi said during his address, “Indian democracy is under attack and many politicians, including himself, are under surveillance.” His statement drew sharp reactions from the BJP, which accused him of tarnishing the country’s image on foreign soil after facing successive electoral setbacks. The Wayanad MP is a visiting fellow at the Cambridge Judge Business School. Gandhi is on a week-long visit to the UK and is scheduled to hold closed-door sessions at Cambridge University on Big Data and Democracy and India-China relations.
Here are ten things from Rahul’s address:
Gandhi referred to the controversial Pegasus snooping issue and alleged that Israeli spyware was installed on the phones of a large number of politicians, including his own.
The former Congress president listed five key aspects of the alleged attack on Indian democracy – capture and control of media and judiciary; surveillance and intimidation; coercion by federal law enforcement agencies; attacks on minorities, dalits and tribals; and shut down dissent.
The 52-year-old former Congress chief said the institutional framework necessary for a democracy: Parliament, a free press, the judiciary and just the idea of mobilization, are all being constrained.
Rahul Gandhi, who gave the presentation, said that the Constitution describes India as a union of states and the union needs dialogue and negotiation. He also showed slides on a screen of police officers being confronted outside Parliament in New Delhi.
“It is this conversation that is being attacked and threatened… You also hear about attacks on minorities and the press,” he said. “Democratic Structure and Democratic Systems on the Planet”.
“I have criminal liability for a number of matters that should not under any circumstances be criminally liable matters, but this is the story and we are trying to defend it.
Explaining the motivation behind his Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said, “As the opposition, when you do this kind of attack on the media, on the democratic structure, it is very difficult to communicate with the people.” Walked 4,081 km through 14 Indian states from September 2022 to January 2023 to draw attention to “prejudice, unemployment and growing inequality in India”.
Gandhi recalled his student days at the university, which he said had given him much “in terms of knowledge and understanding”.
The second thread of his lecture focused on “two different approaches” to the US and China since World War II, and the final strand was around the “imperatives of the global conversation”, as he picked up different anecdotes for a call. was woven together. New types of receptivity to different points of view.
Gandhi is on a week-long visit to the UK and is scheduled to hold closed-door sessions at Cambridge University on Big Data and Democracy and India-China relations. Later in the week, he will interact with representatives of the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) UK chapter and also address the “Indian Diaspora Convention” planned over the weekend in London.