Pegasus saga: NCP fears foreign powers may be snooping on India
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Aug, 2021 11:39 AM
Mumbai, Aug 10 (IANS) Throwing a new dimension to the ongoing Pegasus spyware phone-tapping controversy, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) expressed deep apprehensions that some 'foreign powers' may be snooping on the country, here on Tuesday.
Terming it as "a very serious matter", NCP National Spokesperson and Minorities Affairs Minister Nawab Malik in Maharashtra said that the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Centre must issue a proper clarification in Parliament.
"The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said that it has nothing to do with the Pegasus matter. The Centre must make a proper statement in Parliament through some senior minister to the effect that the government has no links with the NSO Group Technologies," Malik urged.
He said that if the Centre's claim was indeed true, then it becomes even more serious as it could point to some foreign powers snooping on the country and its top institutions and individuals.
"The phones of several opposition leaders, Supreme Court judges, Election Commission of India, lawyers, journalists, industrialists have been tapped, but the MoD claims it has no links with Pegasus. Then who is responsible for this," Malik asked.
In view of this, the NCP leader said it was imperative for the Centre to immediately order a probe into the matter to reveal the truth, as the Congress demanded a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
Malik's comments came a day after the Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt informed the Rajya Sabha that the MoD has not had any transactions with the NSO Group Technologies of Israel, as Parliament deadlock continues with the opposition firm on a debate in the house.
A team of French police officers along with one of their envoy has arrived here possibly to question a National Investigation Agency (NIA) undertrial, a Kerala intelligence official said on Wednesday.
Bampi Pal from Malda in West Bengal was killed on November 25. Neighbours told the police about a foul smell coming from the rented flat that led them to find the body.
On Tuesday, farmers held protests at Phagwara in Kapurthala, Mukerian, Dasuya in Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur demanding that their pending dues with private and cooperative sugar mills of the last cane crushing season be cleared immediately.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought a response from the Centre, the AAP government and the police on a PIL (public interest litigation) seeking directions to them to allow Sikhs to carry the ‘kirpan’ and the ‘kara’ in public places.
The two-member SIT consists of former Delhi High Court judge Justice SN Dhingra and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular. The SIT was to submit its first report in August.
