Srinagar, Jul 23 (PTI) Moderate Hurriyat Conference on Friday condemned the "targeted surveillance" on its chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other leaders using Israeli spyware Pegasus and said hacking is a wilful and direct violation of the universally acknowledged fundamental right to privacy.

"The Hurriyat condemns the targeted surveillance on its chairman and senior executive members Bilal Ghani lone and Masroor Abbas Ansari as reported in 'The Wire expose'," a spokesman of the amalgam said in a statement issued here.

The Hurriyat said it also condemns the hacking of phones of journalists, activists, businessmen and others in Jammu and Kashmir.

The spokesman said hacking into people's phone for surveillance is a wilful and direct violation of the universally acknowledged fundamental right to privacy which is a basic human right and those involved in it should be tried.

The Hurriyat said it "acknowledges the fact that in J-K basic human rights of an entire population remain suspended and the writ of the state rules with a heavy hand so to expect redressal of this issue especially from those that are indulging in it, is very unlikely".

The spokesman said the Mirwaiz has remained under house arrest for the past two years without any reason.

"All his basic human rights already stand violated," he added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)