New Delhi: News portal The Wire had shared a list of 40 Indian journalists on Sunday (July 18, 2021) claiming that the men were being spied on with the help of Israeli spyware called Pegasus. In its response, the Government of India rejected the report saying that all the allegations made in the report are based on estimates and unconfirmed principles. Earlier today, Pegasus Spyware owner NSO Group said it is considering filing a defamation case against The Wire for making derogatory allegations against him.
This portal has always been famous for publishing prejudiced content against the Modi government. He is once again in the news amid allegations of espionage. However, when the Congress government was at the Centre, it monitored many politicians, including their own leaders. A response to an RTI filed in 2013 revealed that the center's UPA government was closely monitoring 9,000 phones and 500 email accounts. The RTI was filed by Prosenjit Mandal. In response, he said, "On an average, between 7,500 and 9,000 telephone interceptions and email interceptions were issued by the Central Government every month.''
In the UPA Government, not 10 or 20 phones were tapped per month, but 9000 phones. This included not only eminent personalities but also their own leaders, including veteran Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee. In January 2006, the then Samajwadi Party (SP) general secretary, flamboyant politician Amar Singh, alleged that his phone was tapped by the Manmohan Singh government, which came to power in 2004. After Amar Singh made the allegations, other politicians like Sitaram Yechury, Jayalalithaa, CB Naidu UPA, etc. However, the most interesting thing about the whole issue is the reaction from former PM Manmohan Singh. He had said that phone tapping was done not by his government but by a private agency. However, a man named Bhupinder Singh was later arrested in the case.
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