Mahua Moitra writes to Om Birla on phone surveillance of Oppn leaders

KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress leader and MP Mahua Moitra, on Wednesday, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking his intervention in the "urgent and immediate threat" of remote surveillance by state-sponsored attackers on the Opposition members.

"It is with great dismay that I write to inform you of a message that I and various other Member of the Lok Sabha (all belonging to opposition parties) received from Apple on our mobile an email devices informing us that we were ‘being targeted by state-sponsored attackers’ who were attempting to remotely compromise our devices and access our data, communication, and even the camera and microphone," the opening lines of Moitra's letter dated November 1 read.

She claimed that the threat is shocking in light of Pegasus software, which is sold only to governments.

According to her, Pegasus was used earlier to compromise various members of the Opposition, dissenting journalists and members of the civil society during 2019-21.

During the past few years, there had been targetted attacks on democratic freedom of the members of the Opposition and voices of dissent, claimed the Krishnanagar constituency MP. Numerous cases of planting fabricated evidence on communication devices have come to light and innocent citizens have been framed to meet political ends, she added.

Moitra concluded her leader with an appeal to the Speaker to immediately provide the Opposition members with the protection required for them to continue doing their duties, which is to question and hold to account the ruling dispensation.

"I trust you will treat his matter with the seriousness it deserves and seek accountability from the concerned authorities into this flagrant breach of law, constitutional freedom and our rights as Members of Parliament," her letter concluded.