Time to break the stalemate

For the sake of Indian democracy, discuss Pegasus and then pursue legislative business

It has been eight working days since the monsoon session of Parliament began. It started out with the hope that both the treasury and Opposition benches have a common interest in a functional session. The government wanted to push through its legislative agenda and was prepared to address the issue of the management of the second wave of Covid-19 this summer. The Opposition saw an opportunity to hold the government accountable on public health, price rise and national security. But with the Pegasus revelations storming the Indian public sphere, the script changed. The Opposition has now demanded that unless there is a full discussion in both Houses on Pegasus and an enquiry, it won’t allow Parliament to run. The government has issued two perfunctory statements on the issue but doesn’t want a discussion. And so there is a stalemate.

For the sake of India’s parliamentary democracy, it is crucial to break the stalemate. In principle, the Opposition is right. The fact that the numbers of key political figures, business executives, bureaucrats, activists and journalists were on a potential surveillance list, and some of their phone devices were found to be infected with Pegasus — a militarygrade spyware — is cause for concern. It throws up questions about who was culpable, what it means for the right to privacy, liberty, dignity, and indeed, the very idea of democracy. Parliament is the best forum to discuss the issue — and it is indeed beyond the purview of just the information technology minister to address it.

The government is in a bind. It cannot admit to procuring and using Pegasus — given that hacking is illegal in India and it will raise difficult questions about its democratic credentials. It cannot deny using Pegasus — given that this means a foreign government was possibly deploying it against Indian citizens. And so it has relied on a defence based on how all interception and surveillance in India has to be legally sanctioned. But the fact is that at some point, if not in the House, then in the courts where a bunch of petitions have been lined up, the government will have to give a detailed response. The government may think that the disruption is costing it little; it is still able to get legislative business through amid the din and is able to evade more uncomfortable electoral issues such as price rise. But the spirit of democracy dictates that the Opposition must be allowed its say, even if the government has its way.