Had Pegasus on my phone, intelligence officers cautioned me: Rahul Gandhi

Talking to students at Cambridge University, Gandhi said that a 'yatra' is a journey or pilgrimage in which people 'shut themselves down so they can listen to others'

Addressing the students at Cambridge University, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that he had Pegasus on his phone and was cautioned by intelligence officers to be careful about what to say over it. 

"I myself 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," he said. "So there is a constant pressure that we feel. Cases are registered against the Opposition. I've got a number of criminal liable cases registered against me for the things which shouldn't be under criminal cases."

"As Opposition, it is very difficult to communicate with people when you have this type of an assault on media and on the democratic architecture," he added.

Pegasus is a spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group. It allows operators to invade a target's mobile device stealthily, giving them access to contacts, messages, and movement history. NSO has been connected to a number of scandals resulting from alleged misuse by customers of its flagship Pegasus phone surveillance software.

Several pleas were filed before the Supreme Court last year on the Pegasus row by senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of Communist Marxist Party of India (Marxist) and advocate ML Sharma, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya.

The apex court appointed a committee to check the allegations. The committee had concluded that the spyware was found in five of the examined phones. 

"Art of Listening"

Gandhi also talked about the inception of the 4000 km-long Bharat Jodo Yatra and its lessons. He said that the interactions with the people who held his hand during the yatra, trusted him as a brother, and confided in him changed him as a politician. It also changed his perspective.

He also focussed on the "art of listening" and called for new thinking to promote a democratic environment globally, as opposed to a coercive one. He added that a "yatra" is a journey or pilgrimage in which people "shut themselves down so they can listen to others".

"As I was walking, a guy came up and showed me a few men standing nearby. He told me they are militants. I thought I was in trouble because in that situation militants would kill me. But they did not do anything because this is the power of listening," he said. 

Regarding a decline in manufacturing in democratic countries such as India and the US in recent years as production shifted to China, Gandhi said the shift had produced mass inequality and anger, which needed urgent attention and dialogue.

"We simply cannot afford a planet that doesn't produce under democratic systems," he said. "So, we need new thinking about how you produce in a democratic environment compared to a coercive environment negotiation about this."

According to Gandhi, the US had become less open after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Meanwhile, China idolises harmony through organisation around the Chinese Communist Party.

Gandhi is on a week-long tour of the UK and is scheduled to hold some closed-door sessions on Big Data, Democracy, and India-China relations at Cambridge University. Later in the week, he will interact with representatives of the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) UK chapter and address an "Indian Diaspora Conference" planned over the weekend in London.

(With agency inputs)