In the wake of the insults hurled at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, ruling Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi, and prominent religious figures, on several Web pages, it is being threatened by the Indian government that it may resort to the enforcement of rules for extracting derogatory content from the Internet.

The derogatory material which has pushed the Indian government to consider this extreme step includes a number of illustrations which show the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi in compromising positions; as well as those which have pigs running through the holiest Islam city, Mecca.

While leading websites have decided against the censoring of such content themselves - apparently because such a move goes against the `free speech' right in India -, Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal told the media on Tuesday that the government may have to impose rules for weeding out deprecating content from the Internet because its is "a matter of great concern."

Sibal further defended a possible enforcing of rules on the grounds that the government has to take care of the sensibility of the citizens.

Revealing that it has been for the last three months that the government has been in talks with officials from leading Internet companies, asking them to bring on a voluntary mechanism whereby offensive content can be kept off the Internet, Sibal said: "We are seeking their cooperation, and if somebody is not willing to cooperate on incendiary material like this, it is the duty of government to think of steps that we need to take."