Picture : Twitter / ANI
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said the Pegasus Project media report issue is a matter of serious national security concern and the government needs to give an explanation on it.
Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said, “It is been proved that phones examined in India had an invasion of Pegasus. Since this product is only sold to vetted governments, the question arises which government? If the Government of India says they have not done it, some other government did it, then it is a more serious national security concern.”
“If it turns out that it is our government and it is authorized to do it, then the government needs to give an explanation as the law only permits the interception of communication for issues of national security and terrorism; otherwise, it is illegal. It is essential for the government to cooperate in a probe,” Tharoor added.
Tharoor also batted for an independent investigation saying, if GOI did it that’s very bad; if somebody unauthorized did it, that’s worse. If a foreign govt say China or Pakistan did it, then national security demands that our govt should investigate & this is why an independent investigation is absolutely indispensable.
Tharoor who is also the Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT elaborated further by saying, I am conscious that the IT Minister has declared in parliament that no unauthorized surveillance has taken place. It raises question — was there authorized surveillance & if so, on what basis was it authorized.
The development comes after the names of over 40 Indian journalists appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, according to a report published in The Wire on Sunday.
