ISSUE DATE: August 2, 2021 UPDATED: July 24, 2021 19:04 IST Illustration by Nilanjan Das Is the Indian state running a mass surveillance programme, keeping tabs on journalists, human rights activists and opposition leaders along with its own ministers and key officials? This is the charge made by French news organisation Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International on July 18 in their serialised revelation of spying activities carried out by countries across the globe. The ‘Pegasus Project’, a global consortium of 17 media organisations including Indian news website www.thewire.in, suggests India is among the 45 countries using a malware developed by the Israel-based NSO group. The purported snoop list includes 50,000 people and has phone numbers linked to at least 14 heads of state, like French president Emmanuel Macron and Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan.