Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has written the following letter today to Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India on the Apple alert he received about the State-sponsored snooping of his communication devices. We are herewith releasing the text of the letter for publication.

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Dear Prime Minister ji,

Attached is an alert that I received last night which explicitly states “Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.”

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. Given the gross misuse of Central agencies by this government headed by you, such a possibility is very real.

Your assumption to the office of the Prime Minister was under oath to uphold the Constitution of India. Instead, there is a gross destruction of democracy and democratic rights of citizens. This is unacceptable.

Your response on this matter would be appreciated.

With regards
Sd/-
Sitaram Yechury
General Secretary, CPI(M)