NEW DELHI: CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he and several other opposition leaders claimed to have received alerts about “state-sponsored” attacks on their iPhones, saying a “surveillance state is the antitheses of democracy”.
The CPI(M) general secretary also expressed apprehension that remote access to his mobile phone maybe used for “planting” information on his device and then using it to “incriminate” him.
Yechury attached a copy of the alert he received from Apple with his letter to Modi.
Besides Yechury, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Trinamool Congress’ Mahua Moitra, AAP’s Raghav Chadha, Congress’ Shashi Tharoor and his party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera claimed to have received alerts from Apple about “state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise” their iPhones.
They posted purported screenshots of the message on their X handles.
Hours later, iPhone-maker Apple Inc said it does not attribute threat notifications, such as the ones received by some MPs belonging to opposition parties, to any specific state-sponsored attackers.
It is possible that some threat notifications may be false alarms and some attacks may not be detected, it said.
In his letter to Modi, Yechury said, “This constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India to all its citizens. A surveillance state is the antitheses of democracy.”
“My work is an open book and there is nothing to hide. Hence, such snooping and the accessibility to remotely access the instruments that I use can only mean that the intention is to remotely plant some information on my devices and then to incriminate me on the basis of such planted fabricated material,” he said.
“Given the gross misuse of central agencies by this government headed by you, such a possibility is very real,” he added.
The prime minister is under oath to uphold the Constitution of India, Yechury said.
“Instead, there is a gross destruction of democracy and democratic rights of citizens. This is unacceptable,” he said adding, “Your response on this matter would be appreciated.”
Talking to PTI earlier, Yechury said he received the alert from Apple last night.
“This constitutes an absolute assault on democratic rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India. Right to privacy is a fundamental right, reiterated by the Supreme Court. This kind of hacking and surveillance state that is being set up is actually a surveillance state under the Modi government. This is a part of destruction of democracy that is going on,” Yechury told PTI.
“As far as I am concerned, there is nothing to hide. Everybody knows my positions. I don’t know what they will find out by hacking my mail. Maybe they will improve their understanding of Indian history, or maybe they will learn better English,” he said.
The bigger concern, the CPI(M) leader said, is that the message said that the device may be remotely controlled and information planted in it.
“Apple’s warning also says they can compromise and remotely control my system, so they can remotely plant some information to incriminate me and proceed to take action on that basis,” he said.
The government has ordered an investigation by CERT-In into the opposition leaders’ claims.
In a post on X, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Apple has been asked to join the investigation with real and accurate information on the alleged state-sponsored attacks.
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