By Vikas Kumar Tiwari
Ruckus over Pegasus revelations, Congress says - this is treason, Smriti Iranis OSD and Vasundhara Raje were also spied upon.
Home Minister, Defence Minister and IT Minister have betrayed the country on the Pegasus issue
New Delhi: Dubbing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a "mastermind" of an unconstitutional and illegal spying racket based on the Israeli surveillance software Pegasus, an act of treason, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahai alleged that the PM has hijacked the democracy and requested the Supreme Court to to take cognizance of the issue and impose punitive action.
The Congress leader alleged that the PM was personally involved in it and further added that the Home Minister, Defence Minister and IT Minister have betrayed the country on the Pegasus issue.
Mr Sahai said that it is apparent that the administration lied to Parliament, as well as the people who were misled and citizens whove been lied to. We urge the Supreme Court to take cognizance and impose punitive action, added the Congress leader.
This is a brazen "hijacking of democracy" and :act of treason”
The former Union Minister asserted the Congress has been arguing for a long time, "The Modi government is the mastermind behind an unconstitutional and illegal spying racket based on the Israeli surveillance software Pegasus. PM Modi is personally involved in this!" This is a brazen "hijacking of democracy" and :act of treason”.
He said that the Home Minister and the Ministry of Home Affairs betrayed the people of India by refusing the purchase Pegasus in response to an RTI. Pegasuss use in India was described as "baseless" and "extremely sensationalised" by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav in a previous report, he maintained.
According to Mr Sahai, the spyware Pegasus not only compromises the phones security along with WhatsApp, but it also has access to the phones camera and microphone, allowing it to record all of the phones activity. It is possible to hack security features. It is also capable of recording sent messages and hacking passwords, contact lists, text messages, and live phone calls. It can even plant bogus content in cell phones to falsely accuse someone.
"The New York Times disclosures on Pegasus have proven without doubt that the current BJP government can go to any level to continue in power," claimed Mr Sahai. He alleged that the Modi government has spied on not just Rahul Gandhi, but also former Prime Ministers, former Chief Ministers, and present Union ministers.
Mr Sahai launched a harsh attack on the Modi government, voicing his support for senior Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Mallikarjun Kharge, who believe the Modi government has taken democracy hostage and is committing treason.
He claimed that not only Supreme Court judge, Election commission, CBI Director Alok Verma and his wife and family, BSF chief KK Sharma, BSI IG Jagdish Maithani, RAW Officer Jitendra Kumar Ojha and his wife, Indian Army officers - Colonel Mukul Dev and Colonel Amit Kumar were also targeted by Pegasus. The target list of Pegasus spyware included lawyers, activists and even journalists. These include The Hindu, Indian Express, Hindustan Times, India Today, The Mint, The Wire, Economic and Political Weekly, TV18, The Tribune, Outlook, DNA, Newsclick, Frontier TV.
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