Pegasus story is concocted, fabricated and evidence less: BJP
Darpan News Desk IANS, 22 Jul, 2021 11:04 AM
New Delhi, July 22 (IANS) Referring to alleged reports of snooping of prominent citizens using Israeli Pegasus spyware, senior BJP leader and union minister Meenakshi Lekhi on Thursday said that these kinds of stories are concocted, fabricated and have no evidence.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Lekhi said, These kinds of stories are floated to undermine Indian institutions and stop Data Protection, that is set to become the law of the land. This is to desensitize the public of the credibility of the structures and to malign the image of our country."
Lekhi claimed that this is concocted, fabricated and evidence less.
"Ten countries have been named in the spyware issue, but opposition in other countries haven't reacted the way our opposition has. This is a story that is concocted, fabricated and evidence-less," she said.
Lekhi also claimed that the NSO, manufacturer of Pegasus, has denied that this is a list of their customers.
"NSO has denied that this is not a list of their customers and has no corroborative evidence of any connection between the list in circulation. Amnesty International has denied this list and yet, the Opposition has continued to disrupt the House based on fake news," Lekhi said.
Lekhi further stated that the published story is based on a list on numbers available in any directory or yellow page.
"Second, Amnesty International has denied this. The company whose produce is Pegasus, has said that these claims are uncorroborated and do not tally with their customer base," she said.
Hitting out at the opposition parties, he said, "Whenever something right and good is supposed to happen in the country, opposition indulged in this kind."
While Akali Dal boycotted the meeting on the issue of farmers protest against the three farm laws, the Congress said that all the MPs should have been briefed and not only the floor leaders.
According to data shared by South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which is the nodal agency in this regard, from January 1 to July 17 this year, 40 cases of dengue have been registered.
"In light of rumours that the Mumbai Airport HQ will be moving to Ahmedabad, we unambiguously state that MIAL and NMIAL airports will remain headquarters in Mumbai," the Adani Group said in a statement.
Even as the farmers continue their protest at the borders of Delhi against the three Central farm laws, the government has reiterated its stand that it is "always open to discussion with farmers' unions and will remain open to discussion with the agitating farmers to resolve the issue".
Upping the ante against the Modi government over the Pegasus phone tapping issue, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday said that the alleged snooping on the phones of Chief Ministers, politicians, judges and people violates multiple laws of the country and is a threat to national security.
Claiming that Amnesty International is directly involved in the Pegasus "international conspiracy" to malign the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday demanded that the Central government ban the activities of the organisation in India.
