Who funded Pegasus snooping? asks Sanjay Raut, compares it with Hiroshima bombing

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday requested who funded the alleged snooping of politicians and journalists by Pegasus and in contrast it with the Hiroshima bombing, saying whereas the assault on the Japanese metropolis had resulted in dying of individuals, the spying by the Israeli software program led to “death of freedom”.
“The modern technology has taken us back to slavery,” Raut mentioned in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ within the Sena mouthpiece Saamana.
He mentioned the Pegasus case is “no different from the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima”.
“People died in Hiroshima, while in the Pegasus case, it led to the death of freedom,” he claimed.

He mentioned politicians, industrialists and social activists concern they’re being spied upon, and even the judiciary and media are beneath the identical stress.
“The atmosphere of freedom in the national capital ended a few years ago,” mentioned Raut, who’s the chief editor of Saamana.
He additionally sought to know who paid for the alleged snooping by the Israeli adware.

Quoting a media report, he mentioned the Israeli firm NSO charged Rs 60 crore yearly as license (price) for the Pegasus software program.
By means of 1 license, 50 telephones may be hacked. Hence, to faucet 300 telephones, six to seven licenses are required, the Rajya Sabha member mentioned.
“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? Rs 300 crore were spent for spying on 300 people in India. Does our country have the capacity to spend so much money on spying?” Raut requested.
He additionally mentioned BJP chief (and former Union IT minister) Ravishankar Prasad had justified spying by saying 45 international locations on the earth used Pegasus.
Raut, whose celebration shares energy with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra, claimed that journalists who criticised the Modi authorities had been snooping targets.

An worldwide media consortium had lately reported that a number of verified cell phone numbers, together with of some ministers, journalists, opposition leaders, and scores of enterprise individuals and activists in India might have been focused for hacking utilizing Pegasus software program/adware.
The authorities has, nonetheless, dismissed allegations of any type of surveillance on its half on particular folks, saying it “has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever”.