Abhijit lyer-Mitra & oo v 0 on Rahul Gandhi's speech at Cambridge and why it's a sign of desperation & irrelevance, but also an inability to listen or comprehend. 1 look at the audience - this isn’t high powered executives or anything - it’s just some students with zero impact on India.Abhijit lyer-Mitra 2 £ @lyerwal v 2 the second sign is of irrelevance. His london trip coincided with the G20 ministerial meet & Raisina. Clearly nobody wanted to meet him purely out of protocol - he’s not the leader of the opposition, so what capacity would he meet them in? The desperation grows more sinister.Abhijit lyer-Mitra @ & @lyerwval vy 3 He says democracy & institutions are dead in India and asks for regime change “this isn’t just an Indian battle” trying to achieve through foreign intervention what his failed politics can not. Notice the externalisation of personal failure & refusal to accept responsibility.Abhijit lyer-Mitra @ & @lyerwval vy 4 he talks about the ability to listen. But notice what happens here. The anchor Danish Khan pushes back saying that lack of press freedoms isn’t a 9 year phenomenon & has always been the case. Rahul brushes the question aside claiming “aberrations”.Abhijit lyer-Mitra y a / @lyerwal 5 then we have the old man who tells him he worshipped Nehru & Indira. Rahul's face lights up - but he doesn’t expect the googly: “you grandmother said | never speak ill of india abroad” why are you? Notice the change of tone and tenor. “There is no question”? The irritation inhy Abhijit tyer-Mitra @ & @lyerwval vy 6 Rahul’s voice being obvious. Now tell me how does someone claim to “listen” when he turned derisive and defensive when a well-wisher asks him a blunt question? Clearly he can't listen, he doesn’t want to listen.Abhijit lyer-Mitra y a / @lyerwal 7 He wants validation. He’s making a pitch for regime change - either direct or through 2014 Ukraine Maidan style surreptitious means. This is reinforced by his statements on China. He claims that he’s uniquely capable of understanding the Chinese threat but the foreign ministerAbhijit lyer-Mitra y a / @lyerwal 8 an old China hand is not but his answer is nebulous & generic, hiding behind parliamentary privilege. He’s basically saying “I'll do what you want on China, Modi won't”, Mir Jaffar much? This interview is a disaster. Indians simply don’t take well to foreign calls forAbhijit lyer-Mitra @ & @lyerwval vy 9 Intervention. Indira & Rajiv knew this well, but his coterie has led him to believe this. I'll be surprised one on ones with him. Even assuming the west wants regime change, they don’t want someone this indiscrete and clumsy to be the vehicle of that change. Utterly disgracefullyer-Mitra Qu: y 10 the worst part is the man standing next to him during his Cambridge lecture is Kamal Munir, a Pakistani, who serves as Pro Vice Chancellor of JBS. Can you imagine the grandson of Indira, talking crap about India sharing the stage with a Pakistani?ijit lyer-Mitra Q2 ¥ 11 this is just getting worse the more | dig. In asking for foreign intervention be it peaceful or military, Rahul Gandhi has violated his parliamentary oath of office to “uphold the sovereignty & integrity of India” 2x2 THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA 283 (Tid Schotuley 8 [Form of oath of affirmation tobe made by a member of Pariament— “1, AB, having been elected (or nominated) 9 member ofthe Council of Sates (or the House of the People) do Sea fix name_of Gad that | will bar tre faith and allegiance tothe Constitution. ave established, Il uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India and that frill fav dnthage the Gty upon which Iam about f eter’ wv =o Sears CCourt and the Comptroller and Auitoe General of Indias “1,AB, having been appointed Chief Justice (ora Judge) of the Supreme Court af india (or Comptroller and Auditor-General of India) do Se not 1 will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of Inia a by la established, that Iwill uphold the sovereignty\ Abhijit lyer-Mitra Dorr y 12 Just FYI Professor Munir is quite the Pakistani establishmentarian, having been awarded the Tamgha-E-Imtiaz for services to the state - including presumably acquiring Indian assets in the UK. (Img credit @srejithk & @ATolerantindian) a Kamal Munir a i Eid Mubarak everyone, but particularly to those under seige in on