<p> A section of Opposition leaders on Tuesday (June 30) described the BJP-led government's move to ban 59 Chinese Apps as more "symbolic" than with substance and claimed that the action was "hypocrisy" when Prime Minister Narendra Modi "refuses" to acknowledge Chinese incursions.<br /><br />Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari asked Law and Information Technology Minister Ravishankar Prasad whether the decision to ban was "thought through".<br /><br />"Two questions: 1) What about those accessing banned Apps via VPN (Virtual Private Network)? 2) What about Apps that will still lie dormant on millions of Indian phones? Do they not constitute a “live/ sleeper” threat? Ban symbolic (rather) than substantive," Tewari said in a tweet.<br /><br />"With this ban are you also certifying that other Chinese APP’s are not a security threat?" Tewari asked.<br /><br />He also asked whether the Alibaba Group, which is specialising in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology, was let off because of its link with PayTm. "Why is Alibaba not on the ban list? Is it because of the Paytm connection?" he said adding Paytm had given a full-page advertisement the day after Modi announced demonetisation in November 2016.<br /><br />However, another senior Congress MP Ahmed Patel supported the government move saying, "We welcome the decision to ban Chinese apps. In light of the grave intrusion of our territory and the unprovoked attack on our armed forces by the Chinese army, we expect our government to take more substantial and effective measures."<br /><br />Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said only a few days back, the Prime Minister was found mourning the martyrdom of soldiers on the same Chinese App he has now decided to ban.<br /><br />"All in the name of a 'befitting reply' to China, whose incursions he even refuses to acknowledge. Hon'ble PM's hypocrisy is surely laughable!" he tweeted.</p>
<p> A section of Opposition leaders on Tuesday (June 30) described the BJP-led government's move to ban 59 Chinese Apps as more "symbolic" than with substance and claimed that the action was "hypocrisy" when Prime Minister Narendra Modi "refuses" to acknowledge Chinese incursions.<br /><br />Senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari asked Law and Information Technology Minister Ravishankar Prasad whether the decision to ban was "thought through".<br /><br />"Two questions: 1) What about those accessing banned Apps via VPN (Virtual Private Network)? 2) What about Apps that will still lie dormant on millions of Indian phones? Do they not constitute a “live/ sleeper” threat? Ban symbolic (rather) than substantive," Tewari said in a tweet.<br /><br />"With this ban are you also certifying that other Chinese APP’s are not a security threat?" Tewari asked.<br /><br />He also asked whether the Alibaba Group, which is specialising in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology, was let off because of its link with PayTm. "Why is Alibaba not on the ban list? Is it because of the Paytm connection?" he said adding Paytm had given a full-page advertisement the day after Modi announced demonetisation in November 2016.<br /><br />However, another senior Congress MP Ahmed Patel supported the government move saying, "We welcome the decision to ban Chinese apps. In light of the grave intrusion of our territory and the unprovoked attack on our armed forces by the Chinese army, we expect our government to take more substantial and effective measures."<br /><br />Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee said only a few days back, the Prime Minister was found mourning the martyrdom of soldiers on the same Chinese App he has now decided to ban.<br /><br />"All in the name of a 'befitting reply' to China, whose incursions he even refuses to acknowledge. Hon'ble PM's hypocrisy is surely laughable!" he tweeted.</p>
