NEW DELHI: At a time when a row around Apple iphone attack alerts shared by the leaders of the Opposition has put a spotlight on controversial non-profit organisation AccessNow — that is funded by billionaire George Soros, who is known for anti-India posturing — apart from the presence of CPI general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s wife Seema Chishti as its board member, the New Indian sent a set of questions to her and Apple team.
Despite several hours gone, Chishti has not replied to these questions.
This, when her husband, Yechury, whose party ruled West Bengal for 30 years and is ruling Kerala now and remained an important constituent of UPA 1 and UPA 2 with more than 40 MPs, has shifted the blame on PM Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, without disclosing that his wife works in the same organisation Accessnow.org that sent these alerts from mobile phone-maker Apple to the Opposition party MPs.
MPs Mahua Moitra, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shashi Tharoor among other leaders are part of INDIA alliance that Yechury is part of ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Like many NGOs across the world that receives funds from various billionaires for their vested interests and selfish gains, Access Now claims that “it defends and extends the digital rights of people and communities at risk and that by combining direct technical support, strategic, it fights for human rights in the digital age”.
Apple, has not made it clear, how and why these alerts were sent on behalf of Access Now to Opposition MPs.
Questions that Chishti has so far run away from:
1. We need to understand from you that alerts from Apple to the affected users mention an organisation Accessnow.org that has you as its board member. Was Apple aware of this or were the Opposition MPs including your husband Sitaram Yechury aware of this?
2. Is it a matter of coincidence or by some design that alerts from Apple were sent only to the members of Opposition that are part of INDIA Alliance. That your husband is now asking India’s PM and HM about security breaches on Apple iphone. Did he also send such inquiries to accessnow.org where you are a member of?
3. Did The Wire or your husband disclose before the Indian public or should both of you now disclose that you are a member of accessnow.org that deals with such alerts when they are sent?
4. Was there any communication between you or any Opposition member over imessage, Telegram or Whatsapp or a phone call before the alerts were sent out.
5. Is there any coincidence that such alerts were sent to some MPs after raids on Newsclick that is facing a probe over Rs 38 crore funds it received under alleged violation for PMLA act? And that Newsclick writer Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, who was once part of Lok Sabha TV contract during UPA regime between 2007-14 while also running a parallel media coaching institute school of convergence, now writes for you.
6. That were you aware of the fact that Access Now has a donor Omidyar whose former India executive Mr Varad Pandey who once served as OSD to Mr Jairam Ramesh whose party Congress ran a government in coalition with CPIM, that your husband has been part of, between 2004-14 either with outside support or otherwise.
7. Was it an attempt to divert attention from Mahua Moitra’s summons before Ethics committee over accusations of a quid pro quo with a businessman Darshan Hiranandani?
8. Will you or Mr. Yechury not withdraw accusations knowing that Accessnow.org also has open funding by George Soros, of more than US dollars 7,00,000 and Ford Foundation amounting to $ 1,70,0000 that have taken stands against India.
9. That Accessnow.org, which has now taken an open stand in favour of Hamas and is attacking Israel, also saw its report publish on The Wire “India Remains Internet Shutdown Capital”, days after you took charge as its editor. Does it not compromise your role in India?
10. Does the presence of Soros, Omidyar and you not tantamount to saying that either fund providers or some people in India who raised alarm for iPhone attack alert are the people who are either part of Opposition alliance members who may have connived to conspire against the Indian government to suit their political comeback of 2004-2014 era or further their ambitions in five poll-bound states? Is it by design that both Priyanka Chaturvedi and Mahua Moitra deliberately snipped the portion in their screenshots that points to Accessnow.org.
As a matter of fact, the New Indian also sent queries to Apple’s India team, which refused to reply thus far, and said they would not reply to any accusations on why it had partnered with Access Now but may cooperate with Indian agencies to disclose what led to the origin of such alerts . Apple sources also said they would cooperate on the probe if the alerts carried malicious intent to favour INDIA alliance members by casting doubts on intentions of the ruling dispensation.
