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

Monday, August 21, 2017

11804 - No malice intended: An open letter to PM Narendra Modi by a common man - Free Press Journal


— By Renin Wilben | Aug 19, 2017 03:57 pm

Narendra Modi

Honourable Prime Minister,

Sir, this letter is not intended to criticise you or your government’s policies, but to just bring forward certain aspects that I felt needed to be spoken about. There is so much that has happened over the last three years, or at least one feels so, which actually means that a lot has been done. But, how much of it has actually impacted the common man for good?

Let’s start with the latest move of GST (Goods and Services Tax). It was meant to reform the economy. Ok agreed, but what about the fact that the common man has to shell out 18 per cent extra when he goes to eat out a regular restaurant. A bill that was earlier Rs 140, has now suddenly become around Rs 180. The whole logic of GST was that old tax rate was to be replaced with new tax rates. But, the normal restaurants have just added 18 per cent to their bills, keeping the rate of the food items the same. As a result, people have to cut down on eating out, one of the few family outing options for the common man, and many like me have also stopped giving tips to the waiter. Sorry to disappoint them, but I can’t afford it any more, though I feel sad when they look at the empty returns.

Sir, hadn’t you said that you would return Rs 15 lakh to each honest taxpayer, which later was termed by your trusted confidante Amit Shah as a political jumla? Forget about getting the promised money, now, we are paying additional tax.

Sir, coming to Aadhaar, it is yet another political card which is troubling the common man no end. We need to link Aadhaar to PAN card, SIM card, bank account, and now even need it for death certificate. 

There are people who are facing trouble in getting an Aadhaar card for various technical reasons. Linking them is a distant matter. And this is quite a painful task, queuing up at various places to do the linking part. And after all that, there is no guarantee that things would be better for the common man. 

There are already cases of fake Aadhaar cards and data being leaked. So, what makes the government believe that linking Aadhaar is a means towards a corruption free society?

Sir, these days there is a tendency of your party to blame the Congress for every malaise in the country. When mob attacks reached an unacceptable level, the defence was it happened during the Congress regime as well. The same was shocking reaction of Amit Shah to the tragedy in Gorakhpur hospital. NDA came to power on the promise of change and hope, but by comparing every of their failures to the Congress, they are making us lose hope, that things aren’t going to be any different, and the promise of ‘acche din’ was just another political jumla.

Amit Shah. Pic/PTI

Sir, we agree that the Congress has done a lot of harm to India during the 60 plus years of its governance. But, do give them some credit where there is due. The fact that a chaiwalla has gone on to become the Prime Minister is itself the biggest proof that the country has progressed since 1947. And, ironically, the very Congress the party is blaming is responsible for being the harbinger of change. Yes, they made plenty of mistakes. But, they did not have an easy job on hand. They had to build a country from scratch, and there is no guarantee India would have been any different if BJP was in power for all these years. Things always seem easier in hindsight.

Sir, we know your government has been in power for only three years. And it is too short a time to make significant change. There is too much wrong with the country. But, at least don’t live in denial mode, and paint a rosy picture of the country. 

If demonetisation has indeed brought out a lot of money, please distribute it among the common man. This is your opportunity to fulfil the Rs 15 lakh promise. And please don’t term anyone anti-national, just because he or she criticises you or your government. It is a basic fundamental right of a person to speak out what he feels, just like what the outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari did. But, you and your party’s reaction to the same was rather disappointing, and the manner in which you put down a senior leader was rather demeaning for someone of a stature of a PM.

Sir, you have some great concepts like Swachh Bharat (Gandhiji’s original idea) and Digital India (first conceptualised by Rajiv Gandhi). Best of luck to you for them. But, first please take care of the basic needs of the common man. An aam aadmi in Mumbai leaves home and travels in a crowded train under inhuman conditions (fans, tubelights mostly not working, just like in Bollywood), not knowing whether he will reach home safely. Many lose their lives just because they head out to work, and have no option but to travel in overloaded trains. Again, this is a legacy inherited by the opposition, speaking of which you are blessed to have someone like Rahul Gandhi, who is like a fish out of water, and will surely help you win the 2019 elections.

Sir, again we don’t expect miracles from you, but don’t react as if you have done some with your invisible magic hand. And finally, let the junta say “Sava Sau Karod log aapke saath hain”, and not the other way round, as has been the case of you boasting in ‘Mann Ki Baat’. That will be the ultimate proof of your success.

(The views expressed by the writer are personal, and not endorsed by the company)