New Delhi, Nov 2, 2019-
A war of words has broken out between the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the government over the WhatsApp snooping row.
While Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi here on Saturday targeted the Narendra Modi dispensation describing it as “shameful”, the government reminded her about the surveillance mounted on former army chief Gen (retd) V.K. Singh during the UPA rule.
Sonia Gandhi, while addressing party leaders, said, “There are so many other issues, of which you will be aware. The latest shocking revelation is that through the Israeli Pegasus software, acquired by the Modi government, snooping on activists, journalists and politicians has taken place. These are not only illegal and unconstitutional, but also shameful.”
Following her remark, the BJP hit back saying she needed to enlighten the nation about who authorised snooping of veteran Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee and then army chief General Singh.
“While the government has clarified its stand on the issue, perhaps Sonia Gandhi could enlighten the nation about, who, at 10 Janpath, authorised snooping on Pranab Mukherjee when he was a Minister in the UPA and Gen Singh when he was the army chief,” BJP working chief J.P. Nadda tweeted.
In a tit-for-tat, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala slammed the BJP, saying it was misleading the nation over the issue and demanded that the Prime Minister and BJP leaders clarify their stand to the people.
Firing salvos at the government, Surjewala said, “Which agency bought Pagesus software to spy on people? Who, either the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) or the National Security Advisor (Ajit Doval) allowed the purchase of spyware? The Prime Minister and Naddaji need to answer.”
Surjewala said, “The WhatasApp said it informed the government about the cyber attack in May. Why the government remained silent since then? When and how the government will take action against officers and political leaders involved in purchase of Pagesus software?”
Attacking Modi for silence on the snooping, the Congress leader said, “The Prime Minister and the BJP leaders have no courage to tell the people how it happened.”
WhatsApp snooping of human rights activists and journalists in India via an Israeli spyware has snow-balled into a major political controversy.
Pegasus allegedly exploited WhatsApp’s video calling system by installing the spyware via missed calls to snoop on 1,400 select users globally, including nearly 30-40 in India.
The owner of Pegasus, Israel-based NSO Group, limits the sale of the spyware to state intelligence agencies and others as it has the ability to collect intimate data from a target device. Pegasus software can be installed on devices as “exploit links”.
The Indian government has denied purchasing or plans to buy Pegasus software from NSO Group.
The government has also come under fire from journalists as they demanded clarification from WhatsApp and questioned why it had kept the information about spying on Indian citizens hidden from the authorities despite recent meetings with the company CEO.
In a statement on Friday, Facebook-owned WhatsApp said it agreed with the demand made by the Indian government to explain the kind of breach to safeguard the privacy of millions of citizens. It also claimed to have informed the Indian government about the ‘security issue’ in May.
“Our highest priority is the privacy and security of WhatsApp users. In May, we resolved a security issue and notified relevant Indian and international government authorities,” the WhatsApp statement said.
But the government countered the WhatsApp’s claims saying the information provided was “pure technical jargon”.
Government sources said WhatsApp had given information to CERT-IN, a government agency, in May, but without any mention of Pegasus or the extent of the breach.
It also insisted that the information shared was only about a technical vulnerability and had nothing to do with the fact that privacy of Indian users had been compromised. To back its claim, a screenshot of the information shared with CERT-IN by WhatsApp was circulated by government sources. (Agency)
