- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
FORMER Indian National Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday (23) accused prime minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah of using the Pegasus spyware against India, its institutions and democracy and said “the only word for this is treason”.
The 51-year-old leader, who recently slammed the government after the snooping row came out in the open, said every phone that he uses is tapped. He also demanded that a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter and resignation of Shah. The Pegasus row has rocked the Indian parliament’s monsoon session with the opposition accusing the Modi government of setting up surveillance state.
“Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists. The prime minister and the home minister have used this weapon against the Indian state and our institutions. They have used it politically, they have used it in Karnataka..,” Gandhi told reporters at Vijay Chowk near the Indian parliament, adding, “The only word for this is treason…”
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Gandhi also said, “Pegasus was used against the Supreme Court, to scuttle the Rafale (fighter jet deal) investigation. Narendra Modi has used this weapon against our country and this can be described only as a treason. The home minister should resign and a judicial inquiry by the Supreme Court should be conducted on Narendra Modi, as no one else can authorise the use of Pegasus… only the prime minister and home minister can authorise its use.”
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Gandhi, who is a member of the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in the southern state of Kerala, has participated in a protest against the government on the Pegasus issue with other opposition leaders in the parliament complex. He called himself an “open book” and said he is not intimidated.
“Let me tell you, I get phone calls from IB people who tap my phone. They call me up and say please be aware we are tapping your phone. My security people tell me that they have to debrief what I say. They have to report to their seniors everything I say. So I am under no pretention that my phone is not tapped,” Gandhi said, adding that the same has happened with him three to four times.
Terming it an “attack on the voice of the people”, Gandhi added that it is not just a matter of “Rahul Gandhi’s privacy”. On his phone being in the potential list, he said, “It is not a potential target, my phone is tapped. It is clearly tapped. So it is not a potential target.”
“If you are corrupt then you will fear Modi, but if you are not corrupt, you will not fear Modi… you tend to laugh,” he said.
The senior leader also said Pegasus cannot be bought by just anyone. He said it cannot be sold to the military but only to the government of a country.
“It is sold from government to government, much like Mr Modi says Rafale deal was a government to government deal, but Mr Anil Ambani is sitting in the meeting,” Gandhi alleged.
He also brought up the Rafale deal, reiterating his allegation that there was “gross theft”. “… None of you people supported me. This is the truth. But the truth has a way of coming out. There is an inquiry in France and you will see the prime minister himself is responsible for corruption in Rafale. You’ll see it,” Gandhi said.
The Modi government has dismissed Gandhi’s allegations related to Rafale as baseless.
