The Shiv Sena leader also claimed that journalists who criticised the Modi government were snooping targets.
Raising question about who funded the alleged snooping of politicians and journalists by Pegasus, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut compared it with the Hiroshima bombing, saying while the attack on the Japanese city had resulted in the death of people, the spying by the Israeli software led to “death of freedom”.
In his weekly column ”Rokhthok” in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Mr Raut wrote: “The modern technology has taken us back to slavery.”
Pegasus case is “no different from the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima”, he said.
“People died in Hiroshima, while in the Pegasus case, it led to the death of freedom,” he claimed.
Politicians, industrialists and social activists fear they are being spied upon, and even the judiciary and media are under the same pressure, Mr Raut said.
“The atmosphere of freedom in the national capital ended a few years ago,” said Mr Raut.
The Shiv Sena leader, quoting media sources, said the Israeli company NSO charged ₹ 60 crore annually as license (fee) for the Pegasus software.
He added that by way of one license, 50 phones can be hacked. Hence, to tap 300 phones, six to seven licenses are required.
“Was so much money spent? Who paid for it? The NSO says it sells its software only to governments. If it is so, which government in India purchased the software? ₹ 300 crore were spent for spying on 300 people in India. Does our country have the capacity to spend so much money on spying?” Mr Raut, who’s an executive editor of Saamana, said in his column.
He also said BJP leader (and former Union IT minister) Ravishankar Prasad had justified spying by saying 45 countries in the world used Pegasus.
The Shiv Sena leader also claimed that journalists who criticised the Modi government were snooping targets.
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