Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday attacked the government over the Pegasus snooping allegations, asking whether it will give up its "ostrich-like attitude" and agree to the Opposition's demand for a full discussion in Parliament on the issue.
The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have been adjourned repeatedly over Opposition protests demanding a discussion on the Pegasus snooping allegations since the Monsoon Session commenced on July 19.
Attacking the government, Mr Chidambaram said another case of misuse of Pegasus spyware has been revealed now with France's national cybersecurity agency confirming that Pegasus spyware was infiltrated into phones belonging to two journalists of Mediapart, an investigative journal in France.
"Mediapart is the media organization that broke the story that the Rafale aircraft deal was being probed in France," the former home minister said.
"Will the government give up its ostrich-like attitude and agree to the Opposition's demand for a full discussion in Parliament on misuse of Pegasus spyware in India? How long can the government duck and hide and scoot when all that the Opposition wants is a full debate?" Mr Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.
An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on a list of potential targets for surveillance using Israeli firm NSO's Pegasus spyware.
Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, two union ministers -- Prahlad Singh Patel and Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw -- businessman Anil Ambani, a former CBI chief, and at least 40 journalists are on the list on the leaked database of NSO. It is, however, not established that all the phones were hacked.
The government has been denying all Opposition allegations in the matter.
CBI Files Chargesheet Congress MP, Others In Chinese Workers' Visa Corruption Case "One Nation, One Election Not Possible Under Present Constitution": P Chidambaram Minimum Wage, Agnipath: P Chidambaram's 5 Demands From Nirmala Sitharaman Canada Cop Who Attended Khalistani Protest Outside Hindu Temple Suspended Explained: Sunita Williams Experiences 16 Sunrises And Sunsets Every Day Video: Air Force's MiG-29 Stalls In Flat Spin Seconds Before It Crashed Salman Khan Gets Another Threat From Lawrence Bishnoi Gang: Sources US Woman, Who Killed "Best Friend" For $9 Million, Opens Up About Murder CBSE To Open Office In Tripura After Schools' Poor Performance In Boards Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.