AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5400 - There should be an inquiry into Aadhaar: Ananth Kumar

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

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

5400 - There should be an inquiry into Aadhaar: Ananth Kumar

There should be an inquiry into Aadhaar: Ananth Kumar

H N Ananth Kumar says the Supreme Court must order an inquiry into how Aadhaar bypassed into

Anisha Sheth | March 28, 2014 | 8.40 am IST

National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its candidate for Bangalore South H N Ananth Kumar spoke to The News Minute about the upcoming elections and some of the controversies involving him. Kumar, who is five-time Member of Parliament from Bangalore South takes on Nandan Nilekani of the Congress and Nina P Nayak of the Aad Aadmi Party when Karnataka goes to polls on April 17. An edited excerpt of the interview:

Nandan Nilekani has filed a complaint with the Election Commission and the Press Council of India, alleging that you are lying about the claims of Aadhar.

What we have said about Aadhaar is fact and the truth. Aadhaar has no Parliamentary sanction and it has been rejected by the Parliamentary Standing Committee, raising the issue of national security. The Parliamentary Standing Committee has more than 16 UPA members and out of these many have supported (what we have been saying)… It (UIDAI) gives Aadhaar to non-citizens like Bangladeshi immigrants, Pakistan nationals and many intruders. We have also said that bio-metrics are a question mark. The Supreme Court has upheld what we are saying. It’s a huge waste of money (for a) futile exercise which the UK, US and Australia have abandoned.

But Aadhaar was a project initiated by the UPA government, how can you hold him alone responsible for the project?

No we hold UPA (responsible) also. (But Nilekani has said) he will take credit, but not responsibility. You are directly responsible. There should be an inquiry into the whole thing (on how the law bypassed Parliamentary sanction)… suitable action should be taken and no matter how high someone is, guilty should be punished. Just because someone is so-and-so, they should not be above the law.

How is your relationship with former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa?

What the media has been saying (calling me Yeddyurappa’s) bête-noire, arch-rival… We (Yeddyurappa and I) have been friends of the last three decades and we are going to continue to be friends. Yes, there were political differences before the last Assembly elections, but that never affected our mutual personal friendship. In every organization it happens, there will be political differences of opinion about style and approach.

You have often been blamed for creating differences in the state unit of the BJP. Your response:

I have been working in the party for 24 years. I have been the State General Secretary and state President (of the BJP Yuva Morcha). I made the party win 84 seats in the 2004 elections and for that I left my Cabinet post. I created an atmosphere of unity and camaraderie. All the allegations about division mean nothing. The media has reported that Ananth Kumar is a consensus-builder, a trouble-shooter, problem-solver. Everywhere I have gone, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgrah, I have united people. That is the track record.”

AAP candidate Nina Nayak has been saying that you are only talking about Gujarat Chief Minister and the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s achievements.

We are talking about Bangalore also, as I told you earlier. It is a teamwork. Both Modi and AK are complimentary.

Pramod Muthalik has blamed you for his removal from the party.

I am in the central leadership. When there is a wrong move being done (by the state party), it is the duty of the central party to correct it.

But why was the central leadership not consulted?

Sometimes mistakes do happen. In life and in politics.

In an interview to a newspaper you say that the BJP has learned its lesson from the last Assembly elections and that the BJP's vote share was divided when the party split. you say: "The immediate solution is to close ranks and bring them back. We have done that, nothing wrong." Does this mean you are ok with bringing people who have allegations of corruption against them, into the party?

The court should say (that the charges are significant). Mere allegations cannot mean anything. There is a law for elections who will be banned and who will not (be banned).

What about allegations made against you in the PIL filed in the Supreme Court over your handling of HUDCO?

Where is the scam? The entire allegation is baseless and untrue, politically motivated. HUDCO has performed best under my tenure. Best in every sense of the term. I want to know from my detractors, where is the scam? How many charge-sheeted, how many arrests, how many people there were proceedings against. If there is none, then you have the answer.