Modi govt must give SC details of 100 Indians spied upon through Pegasus spyware: Congress
New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI): The Congress on Saturday demanded that the Centre put before the Supreme Court the latest revelations made in the US court that 100 Indians were spied upon using the Pegasus spyware.
Addressing a press conference here, party leader Randeep Surjewala said it was clear that the Pegasus was used to hack the cell phones of 100 Indians, and demanded a court-ordered inquiry into the matter.
"NSO, which has sold the Pegasus software, has clearly said that the spying software licences were taken by sovereign governments. It is clear that spying was done, but when will the Modi government answer on this," he said.
"Does this not prove prima facie that the (Narendra) Modi government bought the Pegasus software for spying? Who are these 100 people who were spied upon and with whose permission were their phones hacked," Surjewala said.
He said the government should also tell who gave permission to buy the software and where the money came from.
"When documents have been made public in America's court, is it not the government of India's responsibility to present the documents before the Supreme Court on April 22, so that the Court carries out a thorough investigation into this entire issue? The Modi government must give answers to these questions," he asserted.
The Congress leader said this has come out in the exchange of pleadings/documents between WhatsApp & NSO Group (owner of Pegasus) in US Court reflecting that the spyware was purchased by a "Sovereign," ie a government or its agencies.
The targets were opposition leaders, judges, journalists, even Union minister(s) and other prominent individuals, he said, adding that Rahul Gandhi had brought out the issue of Pegasus spyware being used on those in disagreement with the current Government.
Earlier, the issue snowballed into a major controversy and a full session of Parliament was wasted after the Congress and several parties in the opposition demanded a thorough investigation into the matter.
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Anurag Kashyap slams protests around 'Phule'
NEW DELHI, Apr 17 (PTI): Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on Thursday criticised the protests around the film "Phule", a biopic on social reformers Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule, questioning why films depicting caste issues get banned in India.
The director also criticised the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for modifications suggested to "Phule".
The biopic, featuring Pratik Gandhi and Patralekhaa in the roles of the reformist couple, was set for release last week but it will now arrive in theatres on April 25.
After the trailer of "Phule" was unveiled online on April 10, some members from the Brahmin community raised objections stating that they've been portrayed in poor light.
In a series of post on Instagram, Kashyap said the very first play of his career was based on the lives of Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule.
"If casteism didn't exist in this country, why did they need to fight against it?"
The makers of "Phule" on April 7 received a 'U' certificate from the censor board, which had asked them to make changes like removing terms such as 'Mang', 'Mahar' and 'Peshwai'.
The modifications also included the visual of 'man carrying a broom', which has been replaced with 'boys throwing cow dung balls at Savitribai', and the line '3000 saal purani gulami' being changed to 'Kai saal purani'.
Kashyap noted that not just "Phule" but Sandhya Suri's "Santosh" and "Dhadak 2" are reportedly also facing censor trouble.
He added Diljit Dosanjh-starrer "Panjab '95" and Dibakar Banerjee's "Tees" to the list of movies that are finding it difficult to release in India.
