Reacting to the latest revelations in New York Times, the Congress said that use of Pegasus spyware on Opposition leaders, Supreme Court judges, and other civilians is an “act of treason”. The New York daily claims that in July 2017, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel, the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth $2 billion with Pegasus as its centerpiece was agreed on.
Congress general secretary (communication) Randeep Surjewala and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge at a press conference said It was now clear that the Modi government purchased the spyware and that Mr Modi was directly involved in signing the agreement.
“The buck stops at the Prime Minister’s door. The BJP duped Parliament and misled the Supreme Court. They used public money to spy and snoop upon their own people. They hijacked the democracy in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This is an act of treason,” Congress GS Surjewala said.
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in Parliament had said that the reports of India’s Pegasus use was “baseless” and “highly sensational”. When an RTI query was made, the Ministry of Home Affairs also denied the purchase of Pegasus.
“The Modi government misled the Supreme Court, which directly questioned it on the purchase and use of the questionable software. In its sworn affidavit, the government [represented through the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology] had “unequivocally denied any and all of the allegations made against it,” Surjewala further stated.
To counter these news reports, Home Minister Amit Shah “deployed the usual strategy of false propaganda”.
BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad had claimed that the reports of India using Pegasus are a “revenge for the way India handled COVID-19, vaccination and more than 75% of population… getting free vaccines.”
The revelations come just two days before the Budget session of Parliament.
