Pegasus: Tool to combat terror used against own people, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah on Friday of having used Pegasus, a “classified Israeli weapon against terrorists” , to “target the Indian state, democratic institutions and judiciary” and said it amounted to nothing but treason.

Calling upon the Supreme Court to investigate the matter, Gandhi demanded to know why the PM and government have been refusing to come upfront on whether they had purchased Pegasus. Gandhi said his phone was not just a potential target but was indeed tapped. He said he did not care because “it is an open book” and that “only the corrupt and thieves worry about Modi”.

“Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists. The Prime Minister and the home minister have used this weapon against the Indian state and our institutions,” said Gandhi. “They have used it politically, they’ve used it in Karnataka, they’ve used it against the Supreme Court. The only word for this is treason and this has to be investigated and the home minister has to resign”.

Asked on what basis he was making the charge, Gandhi said, “Are you allowed to buy Pegasus? Can I buy Pegasus? Pegasus has to be authorised by the nation state. The file has to be signed at a minimum by the home minister, probably by the Prime Minister. Pegasus cannot be sold to the military of a country; it is sold to the government of the country. Please read the contract. It is sold government to government.”

About the reported targeting of his phone, Gandhi said, “My phone was not just a potential target, my phone was tapped. It’s not a matter of Rahul Gandhi’s privacy. I’m an opposition leader, I raise the voices of people. This is an attack on the voices of the people. The home minister should resign and there should be a Supreme Court inquiry against Narendra Modi. I get phone calls from IB (Intelligence Bureau) people who tap my phone. They say your phone is being tapped. My security people tell me they have to debrief what I say. I am in no pretensions that I am tapped.”

Gandhi also alleged that the reported targeting of phone of former Central Bureau of Investigation chief confirmed that the government was “tapping” and “blackmailing” him when he was “about to file an FIR (first information report) on corruption in Rafale deal.”

All India Congress Committee spokesman Pawan Khera alleged that in 2017-18 the Modi regime not only added a new sub-head to the National Security Council Secretariat called the Cyber Security Research and Development, but that year the grant allocation to the National Security Council Secretariat shot up to `333 crore from `33 crore in the preceding year.



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