National security, individual freedom attacked: Amarinder on hacking scandal

The CM added said that with such snooping, which 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 global agencies

Chandigarh Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday condemned the hacking of private phones of top political leaders, journalists, businessmen, scientists, constitutional authorities and others as a shameful attack on national security by the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh (HT Photo)

As the Pegasus spyware scandal unravelled within and outside Parliament, the CM said, “It is an attack on individual privacy as well and a shocking attack on India’s democratic polity by the Union government, which has compromised national security.”

The CM added said that with such snooping, which 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 global agencies, governments and organisations, with the risk that such information could be misused 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 sin, and they have to be made to pay for it,” said Amarinder, adding that “nobody has the right to intrude into the lives of its people, leave alone enter their bedrooms, as this government has done.”