Govt must come clean on snoopgate charges

It is irony that the fake story on Pegasus snoopgate with no evidence rocked the monsoon session of both the Houses with the result it had to be adjourned despite government stoutly coming out that it has nothing to do with surveillance by Pegasus spyware made by the Israel NSO group. Even as a massive attack mounted by the opposition by ignoring all appeals by government that Amnesty has pulled back its list, it is distressing that a TMC lawmaker went to an extent of snatching the papers from the IT Minister even as he was clarifying and tearing it to pieces and throwing into the well of the house in full view. It is highly condemnable for lowering the dignity of the house. To allay the apprehensions, a probe ordered by France after Pegasus had come out that it stands by data linked to potential Pegasus targets is a step in the right direction in order to bring the issue to a logical conclusion. Similarly, the opposition is justified in asking the government here to order an independent probe as more evidence required to establish hacking. All in all, as Pegasus spyware targeting many people from various fields including opposition leaders and ministers has come into the open is a watergate movement of Indian politics, the government has to come out clean by ordering a court monitored enquiry immediately to get to the bottom of the truth.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

Ruckus in Parliament worrisome

Parliament sessions are meant for debates and discussions. All the people's representatives should have this minimum idea in their minds before they enter the House. As the Speaker rightly said, sloganeering is not right. It doesn't serve any purpose. Whether it is snooping or farmers problems or AP special status, it is to be discussed to arrive at a meaningful conclusion. But our MPs' behaviour is worse than street goons' behaviour. Crores of public money is wasted daily in the name of Parliament Sessions.

D V Seshasai, Narasaraopet

c likely to be buried

The spyware Pegasus not only breaches the WhatsApp but is able to turn over the phone's camera and microphone to capture all activities in the vicinity of the phone, besides hacking all the security features of the phone, including listening to and sending passwords, contacts lists, calendar events, text messages and live voice calls. The Pegasus spyware case is bigger than most thought. However, the full extent of the use of Pegasus against personalities is not visible forensically and hence the matter may be brushed as yet another open and closed chapter in the days to come.

Krishnan Ramani, Tiruchirappalli

It is not a non-issue

Surgical Strike in THI (July 23), 'Project Pegasus: A non-Issue' is defender's frustration to cleanse themselves of mud and at the same time slinging mud on to the passers-by. None else than Amnesty International known for tending to defending the defenceless, lending helping hand to the helpless, giving a new lease of life to the 'lifeless,' championing the downtrodden and underprivileged to emerge out of slavery from any sort of tyrannical, undemocratic and ruthless fangs, laid the facts bare. But the irony is that the writer unscrupulously calls it 'infamous for its scandalous prejudice, bias and partisan (ism... on) terrorism, extremist, civil rights movements and anti-national plots. Amnesty has said that it 'categorically stands' by the findings of the Pegasus Project and asserted that the data is irrefutably linked to potential targets of NSO Group.

Dr T Ramadas, Visakhapatnam

Making mountain out of molehill

This is with reference to the edit page article "Project Pegasus: A non-issue" by K Krishna Saagar Rao in THI (23-07-2021). The Pegasus project is associated with an investigation carried out by 10 countries corroborated by a news organisation, Forbidden Stories, with the technical support of Amnesty International's security lab. This investigation involves more than 80 journalists from 17 news organisations worldwide. Although, according to the Article 21 of the Constitution, the right to privacy is a fundamental right, Pegasus scandal shows that privacy of the people cannot be taken for granted and an encroachment on one's personal liberty cannot be a shot in the arm for those trying to snoop especially to defame and tarnish the government.

The opposition is unfair in accusing Modi of "treason" after the Pegasus issue has come to light. In fact, it was only during the reign of Modi that a host of crimes like terrorism, corruption, rapes and financial scams have come down to a lesser extent. Hence, it is necessary that the Modi government which is a hallmark for good governance should step up measures in containing crime and criminals to a greater degree and strengthen safety and security of the people to the maximum extent. All in all, it is unfortunate that the Pegasus controversy is stirring a hornet's nest in the country in as much as the opposition is making mountain out of a molehill though being cognizant of the fact that Pegasus is as such a non-issue to the core and it is diverted towards defaming the Modi government for no fault or involvement of the latter.

BH Indu Sekhar, Hyderabad

Clear the air on Pegasus row

The Pegasus snoopgate scandal, collaboratively investigated and exposed by international media outlets, has raised serious concern in the country. But there is so much we don't know. For example, we don't know who revealed the NSO lists and why. This should be looked into and the Centre must come clean on whether it has either directly acquired, or authorised one of its agencies to acquire, the software. NSO has consistently claimed that it only sells to 'vetted' governments and military customers. The government should review its bureaucratic digital security measures to avert the misuse of surveillance technology and allay the fears of our democracy slipping into authoritarianism lest l'affaire Pegasus too passes off like so many other affairs!

J S Acharya, Hyderabad

Issue of national security

More than 1,000 phone numbers of Indians were among nearly 50,000 selected globally by interested clients of Israel-based NSO group, maker of the Pegasus spyware. Indians whose phones were snooped include Rahul Gandhi, political strategist Prashant Kishor, some activists, journalists and two ministers of the Modi cabinet. The fact that two ministers of the government were snooped has left the nation shocked and shrouded in a sense of insecurity. Certainly, it is a question of infringement on national security. It is now believed that the spyware must have been used in the toppling of HD Kumaraswamy-led JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka in 2019. This has cast significant discomfiture among citizens. The Centre on its back foot on the issue has attempted to pooh-pooh an opposition crying hoarse about the issue in Parliament.

Dr George Jacob, Kochi

Right to privacy at stake

The Pegasus telephone tapping has again hit the headlines and rocks parliament proceedings. The fall of the JD(S)-Congress government in Karnataka was made possible by phone tapping of important leaders. It is a matter of concern. It should not be allowed beyond a certain limit. Furthermore, surveillance become a necessary evil in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack so as to contain terror. But surveillance is being misused by most of the incumbent governments to spy their opponents. It is really a bad. It really is an encroachment in the privacy of an individual. Surveillance intrudes on the right to privacy, the right to freedom of speech and personal liberty guaranteed under Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution. In the present incident most of the phones of journalists have been tapped. This shows that the existing laws offer little protection to those whose privacy is invaded and offers no right of redressal. Our current laws on surveillance, the Telegraph and the IT Acts needs a revisit.

Sravana Ramachandran, Chennai

Scale of snooping disturbing

It is not first time that opposition leaders, journalists are being spied out but now this snooping by NSO spyware is disturbing. Government should come clear that whether they used this NSO spyware or not and whether they targeted specific people or not? Though our Union Minister is arguing that accusations of snooping are a conspiracy to derail the development trajectory, one should understand its chronology, spying by foreign agencies etc. The government should clear all doubts whether they involved the Israel company for tapping Indians' phones.

Zakir Hussain,  Kazipet

Silencing dissent

It is indeed a matter of shame and serious concern to one and all that the ruling dispensation is stooping down to spy on potential opponents, dissenters and vulnerable materials for horse trading. It is true that the government stands as an edifice of utter failure on every front. To cover it up, so many means are being tried but it is unable to win over the peoples' confidence as reflected in all the elections held of late. Instead of looking for positive means, the ruling party resorting to unethical means of silencing the voice of the dissenters goes against the established political culture.

A G Rajmohan, Anantapur

Need for independent probe

In a democracy like ours, it's necessary to know whether the government purchased the Pegasus spyware or whether someone else did. Instead of coming clean and explaining what it intends to do to protect citizens, the Government of India has fallen back on a disingenuous claim that no illegal surveillance is possible in India. In fact, this violation is about privacy and much more. The truth can only be unearthed only by an independent and credible inquiry.

Uzair Ahmed, Sanjhak, Muzaffarnagar (UP)

We need a right to recall

Parliamentary and legislature debates are meant for redressal of people's grievances and the debates are supposed to be a civilised way of settling differences and addressing the genuine problems being faced by people. If they descend to the level of street brawls – as it does often and the current session is no different from it – then what is the need of sending our elected representatives there? The ongoing parliamentary session began with the raising of baseless issue of Pegasus spying in which we have least interest, when the very Israeli company NSO group has categorically said that its spyware is sold only to governments.

Untrustworthy Amnesty international and other media groups are bent on defaming the entrenched Modi government. We have no option except cursing ourselves for electing such irresponsible persons as their sole motto is to continually attack the incumbent government and wash their dirty linens in the house. The only panacea to rein in the nagging issue is: It is better to introduce the act of recall as it exists in Switzerland where people are unhappy with the performance of elected representative can vote to recall them. If that is made a law in our country, a majority of elected representatives in India will certainly be recalled and rejected by people for not discharging their designated duties in the house.

Rama Krishna M, Kakinada