Shameful attack, says Amarinder on Pegasus spyware scandal
Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Jul, 2021 10:42 AM
Chandigarh, July 19 (IANS) Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday condemned the alleged hacking of private phones of top political leaders, journalists, businessmen, scientists, constitutional authorities and others as a "shameful attack not just on individual privacy but also on national security" by the BJP-led government at the Centre.
As the Pegasus spyware scandal unravelled within and outside Parliament, he termed it a "shocking assault" on India's democratic polity by the Union government, which had compromised the national security with "this blatantly disgraceful act".
The Chief Minister said that with such snooping, which simply could not have been undertaken by the Israeli company without the Central government's go-ahead, the NDA government had put sensitive information into the hands of various global agencies, governments and organisations with the potential to misuse it against the country.
"This is not only an attack on individual freedom but also on the security of our nation," he said, urging the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the matter and take action against the NDA government.
"The Central government cannot get away with this. They have committed a horrendous sin, and they have to be made to pay for it," said Amarinder Singh, quipping that "nobody has the right to intrude into the lives of its people, leave alone enter their bedrooms, as this government has done".
Terming the developments as part of a pattern of the BJP-led government to "destroy all democratic institutions and stifle the voice of the opposition", he lashed out at the Centre "for the reprehensible act, which has set a new low in India's democratic history".
"No government in any part of the world has ever put the security and safety of its own institutions and people at stake in this manner before," said Amarinder Singh.
The effigy, which has been raised using 500 kg plastic waste, is installed at the Noida Stadium in Sector 21-A and would be disposed at a cement kiln later, Noida Authority officials said.
As part of the campaign, people are expected to devote 10 minutes at 10 am every Sunday for 10 weeks to ensure that there is no stagnant water in their homes which could allow breeding of mosquitoes.
Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra are being held on October 21. "In India's democratic tradition, there is a difference between personal and public life and personal liberty has always been respected," Congress said.
