NEW DELHI: India’s Parliament on Tuesday erupted in protests as opposition lawmakers accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using military-grade spyware to monitor political opponents, journalists and activists.
The session was interrupted repeatedly as opposition lawmakers raised slogans against the Modi government and demanded an inquiry into how the spyware known as Pegasus was used in India.
It is a national security threat, an opposition Congress party official Kapil Sibal said at a press conference.
The protests followed an investigation published by a global media association on Sunday. Based on leaked targeting data, the findings provided evidence that spyware from Israel-based NSO Group, the world’s most notorious hacker-for-hire company, was allegedly used in tools related to multiple targets, including journalists, activists and political was made to infiltrate. Opponents in 50 countries
In India, the list of potential surveillance targets included senior Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, at least 40 journalists, a seasoned election strategist critical of Modi and a top virologist, according to the investigation.
Newly-appointed Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Monday rubbished the allegations, calling them highly sensationalised, over the top and an attempt to malign Indian democracy.
Minutes after his statement in Parliament, India became independent. Wire The website – part of the Media Consortium – revealed that its name also appeared on the list in 2017 as a potential surveillance target. He was not a member of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party at that time.
The NSO group has said that it only sells its spyware to government agencies to be used against terrorists and big criminals. The Indian government has so far dodged the question whether it is a customer of the group.
A list of over 50,000 cellphone numbers was obtained by a Paris-based journalism nonprofit. forbidden stories and human rights group Amnesty International, which was then shared with 16 news organizations.
Journalists were able to identify more than 1,000 individuals in 50 countries reportedly selected for possible surveillance by NSO customers, including 300 verified Indian numbers, Wire Reported.
The source of the leak and how it was authenticated were not disclosed. Amnesty International said the presence of a phone number in the data does not necessarily mean that an attempt was made to hack the device.
In India, the investigation sparked a series of angry reactions from the authorities.
Home Minister Amit Shah described the probe as an attempt to derail India’s development path through its conspiracies and said it was time to create disruption in Parliament.
Former IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said there was no evidence to link the Indian government or the BJP to the allegations. Prasad called it an international conspiracy to defame India.
Rights groups say the findings bolster allegations that not only autocrats but democratic governments, including India, have used spyware for political purposes.
Published in Dawn, July 21, 2021