Rahul Gandhi delivers a lecture at Cambridge University. The Congress leader launched a scathing attack at the Centre during a lecture, alleging that an attack has been unleashed on the basic structure of Indian democracy.
Rahul Gandhi at Cambridge University
The Wayanad MP will be in London from March 4-6. He will be leaving the city the next day. Gandhi is accompanied by Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) head, Sam Pitroda.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi spoke to Cambridge MBA students at Cambridge Judge Business School. He was addressing the students on the topic of Learning to Listen in the 21st Century. Rahul Gandhi ‘slammed’ India while speaking at Cambridge University.
Democracy in India (Quoted Indian Express)
“Indian democracy is under pressure, is under attack. I am an Opposition leader in India and we are navigating that space. What is happening is that the institutional framework which is required for a democracy — Parliament, a free press, the judiciary — just the idea of mobilization, just the idea of moving around … these are all getting constrained. So, we are facing an attack on the basic structure of Indian democracy.”
On federalism
“In the Constitution, India is described as a union of states and that union requires a negotiation, requires a conversation. It is slightly different than other countries. You can think about it much more at the scale of Europe. Multiple different states, much much bigger, requiring a conversation and a negotiation to actually move forward. It is that negotiation that is actually coming under and is under threat.
Attack on minorities
“You have also heard of the attack on minorities, the attack on the press. So, you get a sense of what is going on. The one way I would like to think about it is that in India democracy is a public good because it is by far the biggest democracy … so preserving Indian democracy is more than just about India. It is actually about the democratic structure and democratic system on the planet.”
Indian democracy is a public good. At least 50% of the people who live in a democratic space live in India. Therefore, preserving the Indian democracy means defending the democratic structure on the planet.
: Shri @RahulGandhi Ji at Cambridge University pic.twitter.com/fxmyZb7SJv
— Uttar Pradesh Congress Sevadal (@SevadalUP) March 3, 2023
Surveillance and attack on institutions
“Capture and control of media and judiciary. Surveillance and intimidation. I myself had Pegasus on my phone. A large number of politicians have Pegasus on their phones. I have been called by Intelligence officers who tell me, ‘Listen, please be careful of what you are saying on the phone because we are sort of recording the stuff.’ This is a constant, constant pressure that we feel. What we found as the Opposition is that it is very difficult to communicate with people when you have this type of assault on the media, on the democratic architecture.”
Modi's India Shines At G20 While Rahul Gandhi Embarrasses Bharat At UK's Cambridge University – Watch.#TNDIGITALVIDEOS #RahulBetraysBharat pic.twitter.com/r6bxa5jOVW
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) March 4, 2023
On Narendra Modi’s policies and schemes
“The problem is that if you fundamentally disagree with the foundation of something, I could think about it and say maybe that policy that he has done is not a bad policy, maybe giving ladies gas cylinders and giving people bank accounts is not a bad thing. It is a good thing. But that sort of misses the point. Because in my view Narendra Modi is destroying the architecture of India. So, I am not bothered about two or three good policies that he is doing if he is blowing my country to smithereens or our country to smithereens. I think that is what he is doing.”
“He is imposing an idea on India that India cannot absorb. India, as I said, is a union of states. It is a negotiation and if you try to force one idea on a union, it will react. I have got a Sikh gentleman sitting here. He is from the Sikh religion. We have got Muslims in India, Christians in India, and different languages in India …They are all India. Mr. Narendra Modi says he is not. Mr. Narendra Modi says he is a second-class citizen in India. I don’t agree with him. If your disagreement is so fundamental then really talking about three policies that you agree with, I think misses the point.”
The Rise of right-wing in India
“When you look at these things seriously, you have to go past the idea of the right-wing and go into what are the forces behind that structure. What is causing that change? Number one, the massive concentration of wealth in a few people’s hands. Number two, complete control of the media as a result of the concentration of wealth, and number three the lack of production in India.”
“So, if you have people working in factories, they can organize themselves politically and if you can organize yourself politically you can get a counter force to right-wing mobilization. The problem is the bulk of India’s people are unorganized laborers so it is very difficult for them to organize. They want to organize, and they understand the need to organize but because they are completely separate, they can’t. That is really how to think about it.”
