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.
Smuggling Gold Through Body Concealment Has Become A Regular Practice At The Airport. Since July Last Year, At Least Seven Such Cases Have Been Reported.
India pacer Mohammed Shami faces charges of attempting to murder his wife by poisoning her after the cricketer's wife Hasin Jahan accused him of physically and mentally torturing her and having extra-marital affairs, police said on Friday.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said here on Friday that he would go on a hunger strike if the issue of the ongoing sealing drive in the national capital is not resolved by March 31.
The Rajasthan Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a bill that provides for the death sentence to those convicted of raping girls aged 12 years or below.
The UK authorities have also linked the classified information in the documents with wider national security concerns and claimed that extracting any portions of it to make public would cross the cabinet office's red lines.
