India Gets Its Own Snooping Scandal

Could India become a police state -- perhaps with the consent and even approval of a substantial number of its citizens? It probably could, if the indulgent reaction to the disturbing revelations about the secret surveillance operations of India's most prominent state government contained in tapes recently made available to the public is any sign.

The tapes show that in 2009, a young woman architect, nicknamed "Madhuri" to protect her identity, was put under continuous surveillance for more than a month by the state intelligence bureau, the crime branch and the anti-terrorism squad of the western Indian state of Gujarat, in an operation run by the state's notorious home minister, Amit Shah. Shah himself reported the results of the surveillance to a higher-up only named in the tapes as "Saheb" (literally, "sir," but more akin to "big boss").