The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party wax eloquent on morality, patriotism and their role in fighting for the liberty of citizens and freedom of press during the Emergency. Yet, even as shocking Pegasusgate disclosures spilled out on a daily basis last week, RSS-BJP leaders did not express, even feebly, their opposition to the Modi government’s denial that Pegasus, the spyware developed by Israel’s NSO Group, was used to hack into the phones of citizens. They do not think Pegasusgate needs to be probed.

We now know that in the “party with a difference”, which is how the BJP defines itself, servility is mistaken as fidelity to Hindutva, and discipline demands its members deaden their conscience to the shrinking of privacy and liberty. And yes, even to the imperilling of national security, for if the Centre is right in claiming it did not deploy Pegasus, then only a foreign State could have snooped on Indians, given that NSO Group has only government clients.