Oppn hardens stand on Pegasus, Rahul rejects disruption charges
NEW DELHI: The opposition on Wednesday hardened its stand on the Pegasus spyware issue with 14 parties unitedly demanding a debate in Parliament in the presence of the prime minister or the home minister and a Supreme Courtmonitored probe into the matter.
Earlier in the day, leaders of various opposition parties met and decided to submit similar adjournment notices on the matter. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting of 14 opposition parties. The Trinamool Congress was not present.
“The opposition is united for a discussion on the Pegasus issue... We are not going anywhere till it is discussed in Parliament,” Gandhi told reporters in the presence of leaders of 13 other opposition parties.
He also rejected the government’s charges over the disruption of Parliament and said the opposition was only fulfilling its responsibility.
Gandhi attacked the government over the Pegasus spyware row, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of “hitting the soul of India’s democracy by snooping upon its institutions”.
The voice of the opposition is being suppressed in Parliament, he alleged. “We just have one question. Has the Government of India bought Pegasus, yes or no? Did the government use Pegasus weapon on its own people, yes or no? That is all we wish to know,” he told reporters at Vijay Chowk.
Gandhi also said the Pegasus spyware row “for us, is an issue of nationalism, treason”. “This is not a matter of privacy. For me, it is an anti-national work.” Accusing PM Modi of using Pegasus spyware against the people of India, Gandhi said, “This weapon has been used against India.” “It should be used against terrorists. We are asking the prime minister and the home minister why did you use it against democratic institutions? What has Indian democracy done that you have used the weapon against democracy?” he posed.
The government has been rejecting all opposition charges over the issue. Rahul Gandhi said the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are places “where we have to speak and everyone is united on a discussion on Pegasus”. “The government is refusing to allow us a discussion. Obviously, the government has done something wrong, something dangerous for the country. That is the issue.” deny a quorum. Further all the witnesses called from MIEIT & MHA wrote in excuses & didn’t appear as called to testify. It’s very clear that #Pegasus is a no go area for this government,” Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, who is a member of the panel, said. The committee needs at least nine members to be present in order to function. The panel has 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, of which nearly half are from the ruling party. BJP leaders walked out the meeting, after staging a similar boycott on Tuesday. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had said that participating in meeting when House was in session was not correct.
Meanwhile, Dubey moved privilege motion seeking removal of Tharoor as the head of the said committee. Invoking the rule 222 of “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha” which says that a “member may, with the consent of the Speaker, raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the House or of a Committee.”