AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 2174 - Police arrest Afghan holed up in city

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

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

2174 - Police arrest Afghan holed up in city - TOI

TNN | Jan 3, 2012, 02.05AM IST

NAGPUR: Suspected Afghan national Bashir Shah alias Ayub Khan's stay so far in this country as an Indian citizen is more shocking than his modus operandi. Shah's activities, until he was arrested by crime branch on December 31, only exposes the negligence of the security system.

This is the second arrest of Shah by city police. Shah was arrested by Lakadganj police in February 2006 for alleged act of staying in India without valid documents. He was then booked under the Foreigners' Act and for also violating the provisions of passport. Shah's younger brother Amir Khan was also booked along with him. The case is still pending for trial. It was, however, not clear as to how Shah sneaked away from India despite being an accused.

Security agencies said that he lived under double identities in India and Afghanistan. While he was known as Bashir Shah in India, it is learnt now that he introduced himself as Ayub Khan in Afghanistan.

Earlier he held an Afghan passport, Shah has claimed to have destroyed his documents and was in the process to establish himself as an Indian when the security agencies zeroed in on him. Senior inspector Madhao Giri, under additional commissioner of police (crime) Ravindra Kadam, picked him up from his rented place at Hansapuri.

The crime branch found that Shah had managed to procure a driving licence from Nagpur's Regional Transport Office (RTO) in 2002. He had asserted he was born in India of an Afghan father and Indian mother in Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh but gave no evidence in support of his claim.

Under strange circumstances, Shah went to Afghanistan travelling under passport of that country in 2007. Sources in security agencies said he even married in Afghanistan. In 2010, he returned to Nagpur. The security agencies feel he could be engaged in anti-Indian activities under the garb of being blanket and carpet seller.

With the help of a local contact, Shah prepared a second driving licence in 2010 under the same name. He had also made an 'Aadhar' card for identification in May 2011 and was trying to make a passport when the cops caught him. Police did not rule out possibility of others like him present in the city and further investigations are on in that direction.

Police found several pieces of evidence from his residence. These include various documents in the name of Ayub Khan as well as Shah. TOI had last week reported case of Aslam Khan alias Sher Mohammed who had managed to sneak out of India despite being an accused in a case registered at Tehsil police station in 2010. Police did not send a chargesheet in the case.

The case is learnt to be now further investigated to find out how the accused managed to flee.