AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 2370 - Identity card crisis

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

Thursday, February 9, 2012

2370 - Identity card crisis - Deccan Herald

Wednesday 8 February 2012

News updated at 2:32 AM IST

N N Bala,Feb 09, 2012 :

No one has bothered to compare the photo with my present avatar.

In no other country one would be carrying so many identity cards as we do. Take my example.

Being a senior citizen and an ex serviceman, my bag has the following cards, each one carrying my photo: Pan card, election ID card , ex serviceman identity card, military canteen identity card, ex serviceman contributory health scheme card ( for military hospital ), driving licence card, senior citizen card issued by BMTC, monthly BMTC pass, office identity card (I am employed in a firm after retirement ), medical insurance card (mediclaim) issued by New India Assurance.

I also possess a metro (Yeswantpur) add on card gifted by my friend, although this card is of no use to me since my wife’s long list of provisions contains items ranging from 250 grams to half a kg (except rice.)

I have applied for Aadhaar card and expecting the card in 1-2 months. As per the recent news, home ministry wants UIDAI to stop data collection for Aadhaar cards because of security aspects. Probably another committee would get set up to issue some other citizen identity card and I am braced now itself to stand in the queue to get myself photographed at some post office or issuance centres. I understand the state govt. is planning to introduce another card with photo for those who possess property (land) in Karnataka.

Since my cards were issued in different years right from my age of 21, each photo has no resemblance with the other. While the oldest photos show me as a macho man with bushy mustache and eyebrows, the not so old photos show me with huge forehead and latest photos show me with bald head reflecting lights all over place and few strands of white hair above my eyes which were once upon a time my eyebrows. The strange thing is no one has bothered to compare the photo with my present avatar.

They all seem to be happy that I possess some sort of Identity card issued by the competent authority. Probably, since I have been showing all these identity cards at places which are not very highly security sensitive like international airports or nuclear power plants, I have not faced identity crisis.

The only card which most of the parents possess and which I don’t possess is the passport because neither me nor my son and daughter have managed to score more than 50 per cent in the SSLC and graduation examination. We all knew that no sane person would call us for employment in US or UK and hence none of us have felt the need to apply for passport .

That way I should thank my kids for saving me from standing in another long queue in front of the passport office. However my wife has strong hope (given by some astrologer ) that their kids i.e. my grandsons would become Einstein or Newton and they would get US citizenship and both of us would be invited by them to stay in the US. May be, that time I will not have any grouse to stand in the queue at the passport office.