In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.
On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.
In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.
In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.
In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.
"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Saturday, November 5, 2011

1762 - Press Release: Aadhaar: How the Nation is Deceived - Written by Sri Jijeesh P.B.




 Justice. V R Krishna Iyer Releases a book against Aadhaar

Former Supreme Court judge Hon”ble Justice V R Krishna Iyer here released a book “AADHAAR; How a Nation is Deceived” on 3rd Nov 2011, Thursday, 4PM at his residence by handing over the first copy to Adv. Sebastian Paul, ex-MP. The book authored by Sri. Jijeesh P B, executive member of the socio-environmental organisation Greenpeople is a devastating critique of the Unique ID project of the government of India, pet named Aadhaar. Speaking on the occasion Justice V R Krishna Iyer said that “the project AADHAAR should not be implemented for it amounts to an assault on privacy and basic rights of individuals and is suited only for fascist nations. 

Every individual has some secrets to keep and personal informations should not be made a public property”. Adv. Sebastian Paul, ex MP, said that the project leaves innumerable questions unanswered and a informed debate inside and outside the parliament is urgently required. The book comes with an insightful Foreword by Dr. Usha Ramanathan, renowned scholar and independent researcher in jurisprudence of law, poverty and rights and the South Asia Editor of the Law, Environment and Development Journal (LEAD Journal). The book is published by Greenpeople.
            
The Rs. 1,50,000crore project envisaged to issue a 12 digit Unique ID number to each and every resident in India, as an antidote to the corruption and leakage that is endemic to our system of service delivery, was rolled out without any prior-launching studies or cost-benefit analysis. The project was launched without legal backing and the parliament is yet to pass a law in this regard. In the mean while 2 years has passed and the UIDAI is enrolling people and collecting data including biometric information (ten finger prints, Iris scans and photograph) and entering into contracts with even foreign firms notorious for their proximity to the CIA and Homeland Security without a legal framework to protect the privacy and rights of the individuals concerned and secure storage of data. 

Moreover globally, the science of ‘biometrics’ is being questioned and most of the countries in the world are abandoning similar projects (including the US, UK, France, Canada and China). The global biometric industry which is gradually losing business are eyeing on the Indian market. 

And with a technocrat at the helm of the UIDAI (with cabinet rank!) the project is on a roll. That every resident should be transparent to the state is an anti-democratic idea, but the common reach of technology, and the corporatizing of public programming, has together lulled populations into an unsuspecting complaisance. There seldom had any informed public debate or media coverage on the subject.
                                                                                                          
As Dr. Usha Ramanathan says in the Foreword “Young Jijeesh’s effort at taking on the UID project is of enormous importance. It is timely, and if it breaks through the walls of silence that the Mr Nandan Nilekani has worked to erect, it will have done our democracy a good turn. There are many questions that many of us have been asking which lie unanswered in the cupboards of callousness and unresponsiveness that has become state practice. Jijeesh’s is the voice of a concerned youth who is irked into independent speech by the arrogance of the project. More power to him”.
 
Speaking at the function Sri Kadathy Shaji, well known writer and joint secretary of Greenpeople, said that the state should not be allowed to open a file on each and every citizen of the country.  

The programme held at Sadgamaya was attended by Sri. Azees Kunnappilly, President Greenpeople, Adv. Aby Pukkunel, Secretary, Greenpeople, Sri. Kadathy Shaji, Dr. Sreedhar Koothattukulam, Sri. Jayan P A, Sri. Akhilesh P J, Sri. Manoj S Nair, Sri. Deepu AS, Smt. Sunitha M Vijayan, Sri. Dineesh, Sri. Denit P Kurian and Sri. Sreejith, all executive members, Greenpeople.

Greenpeople
3rd Nov 2011
greenpeople.greenpeople@gmail.com
9895114134
 
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