Pegasus row

THE Modi government needs to come clean on the latest media revelations that it bought Israeli spyware Pegasus in 2017 as part of a $2-billion package for sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear. It also needs to set the record straight on insinuations linking the deal with India voting in June 2019 in support of Israel at the UN’s Economic and Social Council to deny observer status to a Palestinian human rights organisation. Sidestepping the issue, expected to feature prominently in the Budget Session of Parliament that begins today, would only add to the speculation and provide ammunition to the Opposition. The massive political row over invasion of privacy was triggered by a report released by a global consortium of media groups in July last year, claiming that the spyware had been used by several governments to snoop on politicians, opponents and journalists, among others.

The government has, in the past, dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance, saying there is ‘no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever’. While setting up a three-member independent panel in October to probe the alleged targeted and unlawful surveillance, however, the Supreme Court’s observations were terse, as it deemed unacceptable the Centre’s refusal to shed any light on the controversy. The court said the State could not get a ‘free pass’ every time the spectre of national security was raised and that its mere invocation could not render the judiciary a ‘mute spectator’.

Under fire for providing the means for nations to spy on their own people, Pegasus maker NSO Group claims that it only sells the technology to foreign governments and has no role in or responsibility for targeting specific individuals. Various instances have been given of how the spyware has been quietly used the world over to thwart terrorist plots and fight organised crime through technology that can decrypt communications. However, it is the abuse of Pegasus that is at the centre of the row. If India has established robust protocols when it comes to surveillance, as the government claims, stonewalling the damning revelations only adds fuel to the fire.

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