Father of ‘Pegasus’ based in our country, cyber-attacks impossible without center's consent: Shiv Sena

MUMBAI: Days following Pegasus snooping controversy shook the country and the centre claimed involvement of a foreign country in it, Shiv Sena on Wednesday blamed the Modi government directly for ‘Pegasus’ spying on journalists, politicians, judiciary and bureaucrats, the four pillars of a democracy.
Sena, in its party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’ editorial alleged that the Pegasus is a cyber-attack on select Indians only and the attack could not have been made without the centre’s consent.
The party also urged the Supreme Court to take a suo motu notice of the issue and appoint an independent committee to probe into it, in the interest of the nation. Sena stated that very few people, every year observe the ‘emergency’ imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, as ‘black day’, but “the cyber-attack is more terrible than the emergency,” stated Sena.
Though the centre is claiming that the snooping activity was done by the foreign agency, Sena hit out at the Modi government, saying, “Such attack cannot be made without the centre's consent and real fathers of the ‘Pegasus’ are in our country and they should be found out.”
Sena also demanded that the centre should probe the matter through a joint parliamentary committee.
The editorial further stated that snooping is a direct attack on an individual’s right of freedom.
“Home minister Amit Shah claimed that it is an international conspiracy to defame the country and its democracy. It's a surprising statement. Could the Home minister be able to tell exactly who is defaming the country? If it's your government, the country is yours, your democracy, then who has dared to defame the country?” questioned the party led by Uddhav Thackeray.