Rahul Gandhi, former president of the Congress, spoke at the prestigious University of Cambridge about the "art of listening" and urged new ways of thinking to advance a democratic atmosphere rather than one that is coercive.
Rahul Gandhi addressed the students of the Business School in Cambridge, saying, "Large number of poltical leaders have Pegasus on their phone. I had Pegasus on my phone. I've been called by intelligence officers who say please be careful of what you say on the phone as we are recording the stuff," said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at Cambridge University.
Supreme Court appointed a committee to look into allegations
The committee created by the Supreme Court in August of last year to investigate claims that the government was using Pegasus for spying came to the conclusion that, while the 29 mobile phones it examined did not contain any spyware, five of them did contain malware.
Reading the report of the committee, the bench had said, "We are concerned about the technical committee report... 29 phones were given and in five phones some malware was found but the technical committee says it cannot be said to be Pegasus." Rahul alleged further that constraints were being put on the Parliament, press and the Judiciary in the country.
"Everybody knows and it's been in the news a lot that Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India, we are navigating that (Opposition) space. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy -- Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation, moving around -- all are getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy," the Congress MP alleged.
Sharing a picture of himself in the presentation slide in which he is seen being held by the police personnel, the Congress leader claimed that the Opposition leaders were "locked up" in jail for "just standing" in front of the Parliament House to talk about some issues, while also alleging that such incidents have happened "relatively violently".
"In the Constitution, India is described as a Union of States, and that Union requires negotiation and conversation. It is that negotiation that is under attack and threat. You can see the picture which is taken in front of Parliament House. The Opposition leaders were just standing there talking about certain issues, and we were put in jail. That's happened 3 or 4 times. It has happened relatively violently. You have also heard of the attacks on minorities and the press. You get a sense of what is going on," Rahul claimed.
