Opinion | Pegasus spyware: Making allegation is not enough, proof of surveillance is needed
India TV NewsThere were lots of speculations in political circles on Monday about whether the Modi government snooped on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, political strategist Prashant Kishor and some journalists. According to Paris-based media non-profit organization Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, spyware Pegasus sold by Israeli NSO Group, was used to conduct surveillance on nearly 300 Indians. On Monday, the controversy was fanned by a second list of names to allege that Rahul Gandhi, some of his friends and aides, former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, presently cabinet ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Prahlad Patel, and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee were targeted for surveillance Pegasus spyware. Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “India has an established protocol when it comes to surveillance…Any form of illegal surveillance is not possible with the checks and balance in our laws and our robust institutions.” What is Pegasus spyware? As far as the Pegasus project is concerned, though names of nearly 300 Indians were given, not a single concrete evidence has come out to show whether any cell phone was hacked or put under surveillance, and, that too, by the government.