New Delhi: Nearly 250 activists, academics, cultural figures and concerned citizens have signed a petition demanding action from the Union government to tackle what they see to be the broader implications of the findings of the Pegasus Project.The Pegasus Project is an investigation that involves 17 news organisations in 10 countries – including the The Wire in India – coordinated by Forbidden Stories with the technical support of Amnesty International’s Security Lab. Reports under the project have indicated the attempted or successful surveillance on several journalists, opposition leaders, a leading scientist, and activists.Drawing attention to the fact that India is one among 10 clients of the NSO Group that sells the Pegasus spyware that is used for surveillance, the signatories to the petition highlights that the group works ‘closely with the Israeli state, which approves every sale of the company’s spyware, while the company itself claims to sell its products only to “vetted governments”.’The signatories of the statement include members of the cultural community such as Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Nayantara Sahgal, Mallika Sarabhai, TM Krishna, Anand Patwardhan, Hiren Gohain and Meena Kandasamy; members of the academic community such as Nivedita Menon, Kumkum Roy, Gyan Prakash and Apoorvanand; activists Henri Tiphagne, Harsh Mander and Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas and journalists Geeta Seshu and The Wire‘s ombudsperson Pamela Philipose.Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif and Palestinian writer and human rights lawyer Raja Shehadeh are among signatories.Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Anirban Bhattacharya and Shalini Gera – targeted by Pegasus – have also endorsed this statement, brought out under the aegis of the India Cultural Forum.Also read: Pegasus Project: 136 Names Revealed By The Wire On Snoop List So FarThe petition posits the development of such tools of surveillance as an inherently suppressive act and makes a point on the fact that the spyware itself is a “part of the matrix of Israel’s apartheid and occupation and are only the latest import of repressive paradigms and methods that our government has imported from Israel.”It alleges that the roots of the spyware are in repression as well.‘Through its cooperation with Israel and the NSO Group, the government does so using technologies that are developed through usage against Palestinians. They are perfected in this way before being sold to clients across the world, who then use it for repression.’The petition alleges that regimes in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Hungary and India have used the software to target dissenters and even killed two of them, journalists Jamal Khashoggi and Cecilio Pineda Birto.The petition also calls for a global alliance to come together and challenge the collusion of governments and their access to technology “built to violate human rights.”While the group asks for accountability from the Indian government, it also recognises that the import of such surveillance technology by this same government is done by a policy that regards Israel as its model. It also likes India’s beginnings to Palestine’s struggle.The Citizenship Amendment Act mirroring the Law of Return and abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir opening the doors for ‘Israel-style settlements’ have been a starting point. The scandal of anti-democratic snooping shows how Israeli methods are being used against anyone that opposes the wills of those in power. Intrinsically, our struggles for democracy and equality are linked to the Palestinian liberation movement, as well as people across the world resisting human rights violations.The signatories demand the end of the purchase of cyber surveillance technology from NSO group and other such companies, an end to the surveillance and repression against Indian citizens and an end military and security ties with “apartheid Israel”.A full list of the signatories is below. Read the full statement here.Ambika Nair, Freelance EditorParanjoy Guha ThakurtaAchin Vanaik, Retd. Professor, University of DelhiUma Chakravarti, Retired TeacherVijoo Krishnan, All India Kisan SabhaNaseeruddin ShahRatna Pathak ShahApoorvanand, Teacher and WriterT.M.Krishna, Musician and AuthorMallika SarabhaiGitha Hariharan, Writer, Indian Cultural ForumPrabir Purkayastha, NewsclickDr. Frazer Mascarenhas S.J., Academic AdministratorPyoli, Samajwadi JanparishadK.Ravi Chander, Telangana Praja Front (TPF)Sharib, University of BernHarsh Mander, Human Rights and Peace Worker and WriterVijay Prashad, Director of Tricontinental Institute for Social Research; Chief Editor, LeftWordBooks; Chief Correspondent at GlobetrotterAhdaf Soueif, WriterRaja ShehadehDeepika Joshi, Jan Swasthya AbhiyanVirginia Saldanha, Indian Christian Women’s MovementMeera Sanghamitra, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)Sharmila, IIT BombayAyesha Kidwai, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityAman, JGLSSharanya, Rangmatipadar Adivasi Commune KoraputKhalida parveen, Amoomat societySafoora Zargar, Jamia Millia IslamiaRanjan Solomon, BadaylRajendra ChenniBishnupriya Dutt, JNUNandita Narain, St Stephen’s College, Delhi UniversityNivedita Menon, JNU DelhiKaruna D.W.Salim YusufjiProf. Mohan Rao, Jan Swashya AbhiyanMarcy NewmanN Venugopal, Editor, VeekshanamMadhu Sahni, JNURanjana, WSSvqueeram, Independent ResearcherNikita Agarwal, Advocate, High Court of DelhiPradip Datta, retired professor, JNUSachidanand Sinha, JNU, New DelhiSoibam HaripriyaJanaki Nair, Professor (Retd) Centre for Historical Studies, JNUPushpamala N, ArtistPrem Kumar Vijayan, Hindu College, Delhi UniversitySukla Sen, PUCL, MaharashtraK. Padma, Committee for Release of Political PrisonersAnupama P, University of HyderabadSiddharth, MA, JNUChirashree Das Gupta, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityAnirban Bhattacharya, CFASowmya Dechamma C C, UoHChirag ShahNisha BiswasNabila Khadija Ansari, StudentNeha TrivediAmmu Abraham, Forum Against Oppression of WomenDr Debjani Sengupta, Associate Professor, IP College, DUSukumar Muralidharan, Independent journalistSandhya Gokhale, Forum Against Oppression of WomenLathaAnita A CherianLingam Nageswara Rao, RetiredAyesha Samah, StudentRahul MenonDevaki JainAasthaDevaki KhannaDevika J, Feminist Scholar, KeralaDebaratiMohammed DanishIndrapramit DasS. Raghunandana, Kannada Poet, Playwright, Stage DirectorN. Jayaram, PUCLDunu Roy, Hazards CentreJagdeep Chhokar , Retired ProfessorG. Arunima, Kerala Council for Historical ResearchRajni PalriwalaNasir Tyabji, Formerly with Jamia Millia IslamiaGeeta Seshu, Free Speech CollectiveS. GopalXavier Dias, Mines Minerals & RIGHTSNavdeep Mathur, IIM AhmedabadBittu K R, WSSKalpana SwaminathanIshrat SyedMahnoor Yar KhanHimanshu DesaiMohd Abuzar, Independent ActivistAflatoon, All India General Secretary, Samajwadi Jan ParishadPrabir BoseNatasha GinwalaSunita BabuSujata Gothoskar, Forum Against Oppression of WomenNaresh Dadhich, IUCAAMaimoona Mollah, AIDWA, DelhiJeroo Mulla, Sophia PolytechnicAsha Sharma, AIDWA, Delhi Abdul Rahman, Peoples DispatchKalyani Menon Sen, Independent ResearcherAtul Gurtu, Retired Scientist TIFRRahul Roy, Indian Statistical InstituteShireen MistreeK Satchidanandan, Indian Writers’ ForumAmarjit ChandanGeeta Kapur, Independent art writerAravinda PotluriMeena Kandasamy, Writer Ashok Vajpeyi, Writer and Literary CriticHiren GohainNicholas BarlaAruna RodriguesChandrakant PatilSatarupa Chakraborty, AIDWANandini RaoWinnie Chauhan, LeftWord BooksM Madhava PrasadRimli Bhattacharya, University of DelhiPritam Singh, ProfessorMeena Dhanda, ProfessorHazel D’Lima, Nirmala NiketanShastri Ramachandaran, JournalistVidya Bhushan Rawat, Activist and AuthorDwarika Nath Rath, ActivistM G Devasahayam, People-First MovementSahba Husain, Independent Researcher/ WriterSrabani, JMS, DelhiKalyani Chaudhuri, Retd. [IAS] Additional Chief Secretary, West BengalPrasad Chacko, Independent consultantGyan Prakash, Princeton UniversityDeepak Kapur, Professor, UNMFeroz MehdiDurga Prasad Panda, Bilingual Poet and CriticKrishnakant Chauhan, Environment ActivistRakhi BasuSouradeep Roy, Queen Mary, University of LondonShakuntala KulkarniN Manu Chakravarthy, Visiting ProfessorDr. S C Mukhopadhyay, AcademicKumkum RoyAbhinav Surya L T, Free Software Movement KarnatakaJyoti Punwani, Freelance journalistOishik Sircar, Jindal Global Law SchoolFiroz, School TeacherMounica Sreesai, Students Federation of IndiaSumanta Banerjee, Independent Writer and Political CommentatorVarsha K, AcademicTaherNeha, LawyerK. MuralidharanSupriya VarmaAvani ChokshiSagari R Ramdas, Food Sovereignty AllianceDebashree MukherjeeVeena ChalamPrakash NarainAshish Ghosh, Retired from DUPeggy Mohan, WriterAkriti, StudentPushkar Raj, PUCLRam Puniyani, Center for Study of Society and SecularismElsa, PBVMUsmanVidyun Sabhaney, ArtistSuyash ModiSharon FlynnNiloufer SagarProf J G Krishnayya, Retired, ex-Director of Systems Research Institute, PuneShalini Gera, Lawyer, Chhattisgarh High CourtDatta Desai, Peoples’ Science Movement/Left MovementDevdan ChaudhuriDev Desai, ANHADShivangi Mariam Raj, Independent Researcher and TranslatorDeepti Bharti, National Federation of Indian WomenSuchetana Chattopadhyay, Jadavpur UniversityVinod Mubayi, Insaf BulletinManjari MehtaNilanjana Paul, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyDr. Sanjay Mangala Gopal, National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements (NAPM)Sunil Kumar BanerjeeSachin N, DSC, University of DelhiLotika Singha, University of Wolverhampton, UKRajeev SinghaMohammed Al Asaad, WriterKiran Tandon, Book EditorRamneek Singh, Playwright and Theatre DirectorSubhash Gatade, New Socialist InitiativeAshley Jude Mario Tellis, Independent ResearcherMohammad Imran, RetiredDr Sylvia Karpagam, Public Health DoctorAnustup Basu, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignAlbeena ShakilRosamma Thomas, FreelancerMariam Dhawale, All India Democratic Women’s AssociationAjay Ranjan SinghPhilomena D’SouzaMalathiA.K.Maleri, Democratic Rights MovementArun, VIRASAMRitu Maleri, Democratic Rights MovementPamela Philipose, Ombudsperson, The WireDharvinder KumarBrinda AdigeVivan SundaramAmar JesaniManishi JaniIndira Chandrasekhar, PublisherBharati Jagannathan, Miranda House, Delhi universityDeeksha, StudentPrabhu Prasad Mohapatra, History, .University of DelhiAashita Dawer, O.P. Jindal Global UniversityHusna HasanJagmohan Singh, Association For Democratic Rights (Punjab)N A SebastianPurendra Prasad, ProfessorManju KulapuramMukund Kulkarni, Development FoundationChaand Ohri, DoctorAarti Bhatt, CARAvinash Kumar, Assistant Professor, JNURohini Hensman, Writer and Independent scholarAbha, One Billion RisingMadhu BhaduriShashi Deshpande, WriterNayantara Sehgal, WriterSamik Bandyopadhyay, Art, Theatre and Film CriticHenri Tiphagne, Human Rights defenders’ Alert – India (HRDA)Poonam Kaushik, General Secretary Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan DelhiShreya MenonSuhail ShafiRajiv Gupta, Former Professor and Head, Department of Sociology, University of Rajasthan, JaipurDr. James Deutsch, University of TorontoAnand Patwardhan, FilmmakerMegha Pansare, AcademicManmohan Kumar, All India Rural and Agricultural Labour AssociationHiren GandhiSaroop DhruvSucharita Sen, JNULalita RamdasIndrapramit Roy, ArtistVasudevan Akkitham, Freelance ArtistAnju UppalMoinak Banerjee, Doctoral Student, McGill UniversityVikash, NAPMRanaOrganisational Endorsement:New Trade Union InitiativeInSAF India (International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India)Campaign Against Fabricated Cases(CAFC), OdishaCOLLECTIVEThe Pegasus Project is a collaborative investigation that involves more than 80 journalists from 17 news organisations in 10 countries coordinated by Forbidden Stories with the technical support of Amnesty International’s Security Lab. Read all our coverage here.