New Delhi7 hours agoWriters: Sandhya Dwivedi/Ravi Yadav
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The names of 40 journalists are included in the list released in the Pegasus espionage case. The journalists included in this list have only one question, are we criminals, anti-nationals? Why spy on us? Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, whose name is included in the controversial list, says, “Pegasus does not spy for any person or private organization. It works only for any government organization. If the government is not getting this espionage done, then the question arises that who is this government institution? The government is neither saying yes nor no in this matter. The government must find out this government institution. Because, this kind of espionage is an attack on democracy, there is a huge danger.
He says, “The company provides its services to investigate cases related to drug trafficking criminals, pedophiles targeting children, child abduction crimes. So the question arises, are we any one of them?’ Senior journalist Smita Sharma, whose name is also included in this list. She says that the government is saying that we are not behind this espionage. But just cleaning it won’t work. The government should get this matter investigated so that it can be known who is behind this?’
She raises the question that if the central government is not involved, then is the Ministry of Home Affairs or any other government agency involved? Is any state government doing this or is there any corporate house behind it. Therefore it is very important to investigate it so that who is behind it can be known.
Senior journalist Santosh Bhartiya, who is included in this list, also demands the investigation of this entire espionage case by the government, he says, the government is saying that we have not done espionage, then it is a more serious issue, because then it is the country’s There is a huge gap in the security system.
Is monitoring of those asking questions to the government?
Independent journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh takes the question a step further. He says, ‘You look at the profiles of 40 journalists, they are all those who raise their voice against the government. Expose anti-people policies. I am continuously writing in favor of the tribals in Bastar who are being killed by being branded as Maoists. Being put in jail.
Rupesh says that in 2017, I openly reported on the killing of tribal Doli laborer Motilal Baske in a fake encounter by CRPF Cobra on June 9 at Parasnath mountain in Giridih district of Jharkhand as a ‘Maoist’. After my report, this issue also came up in the national media. From then on I started being pressurized directly and indirectly. Rupesh’s point is visible because if you look at the list of journalists, most of the journalists in it are those who have been questioning the government or their closeness somewhere.
Paranjoy did a series in Newsclick, in which the allegation of the then Supreme Court of Justice Arun Mishra delivering the verdict in favor of Adani was made factually. Not only this, in the year 2014, a book of his was published which was titled, Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis. This book had created panic.
In 2016, he became editor of the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW). He wrote an article on how the Adani Group benefited from the policies of the government. Thereafter, a notice of defamation was sent to him. It was not a petty issue, it was a matter of 500 crores. Thakurta had to resign from the magazine. This is only a hallmark, Thakurta wrote many more such articles and books as well as made many documentaries.
The names of many journalists of The Wire are included in this list. Common people are also familiar with The Wire’s ‘Journalism’. So the question is justified to be raised whether the same journalists who asked questions from the government or the industrial houses considered close to them were spied on? Smita Sharma says, ‘This is not a new case, it has been happening for decades, many such governments have come which do not like their criticism and do not like to be asked tough questions.’
The list has just been released but we had an idea that someone is monitoring our phone? Paranjoy Thakurta says, ‘In March, a man from Chennai came to me, who told me that your phone is being monitored.
Weird ‘beep’ was heard in the phone while calling
Two people from France then contacted me and told me that my phone would be under surveillance. “We will need your data, don’t worry, it won’t be tampered with, it will be completely secure,” he said. After investigation I was shocked as my phone surveillance was on from March-April 2018.
Rupesh Kumar also told that when the mass movement against the killing of a tribal in a fake encounter intensified, a strange ‘beep’ was heard in my phone while calling. On June 4, 2019, I was going from Ramgarh to Aurangabad with my lawyer friend. On the way, the Central IB picked up me and my driver.
We were detained for 2 days in the permanent camp of COBRA 205 Battalion under Gaya district of Bihar. During interrogation, the Central IB also told me that your phone is being monitored. Later on I was lodged in jail after registering a case under 6 serious sections of UAPA.
Senior journalist Santosh Bhartiya says, “I got 2-3 calls from Canada. But, it happened only once. I thought it was not a trap. When I inquired from my sources, I came to know that the government has a problem with my articles. The government is worried because my articles have an impact on people’s minds. That’s why I’m being watched.