AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 7483 - Playing the name game

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, March 3, 2015

7483 - Playing the name game - The Hindu

March 2, 2015

Playing the name game

L.RENGANATHAN AND M.BALAGANESSIN

The DMK cadre have started following the AIADMK by calling former Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi as ``Namma Muthalvar’’

There is no dearth of prefixes or titles for political leaders and tinsel town artistes in our land. But our politicians are past masters in conjuring up imaginative titles to hail their leaders.

To counter the AIADMK propaganda of portraying former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa as ``Makkalin Muthalvar’’ after she was forced to leave office, the DMK is aping its arch rival in portraying former Chief Minister M.Karunanidhi as ``Namma Muthalvar’’ as some of the wall paintings in Vallam proclaim. Retorting to that, the Vallam AIADMK cadre jocularly remarked that these days the DMK has been reduced to the runner-up spot in every sphere of activity, and it was following in the footsteps of the AIADMK and its leader.

Though the delay in the execution of road-over-bridge near Kalamavur on the Tiruchi-Karaikudi section has caused much distress to the people of the region, political parties are making the best use of the beams and pillars constructed for the ROB. Both the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have been using the spans for attracting the attention of the road-users through eye-catching slogans and graffiti. As the bridge is located at a vantage point on the Tiruchi-Karaikudi National Highway, the advertisements grab a lot of eyeballs.

Over the last few weeks, every Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) distributor in Tiruchi city has been facing the ‘wrath’ of the customers due to the delay in supply of refills. Supply of LPG refills to customers who have not furnished their Aadhaar Cards or Savings Bank Accounts details has been suspended.

Many customers complain that though they had submitted their Aadhaar details, they were yet to get the refills. Noisy scenes can be seen at several dealer centres as customers are visibly irked over the delays. LPG dealers, however, say that discrepancy in the name and spellings of customers in their records – gas book, bank passbook and Aadhaar Card – leads to confusion.

“Any variation in any one of these records leads to confusion, resulting in delay in the release of the subsidy,” says a LPG distributor in Karumandapam, who pleaded anonymity.

A free legal awareness camp organised by the District Legal Services Authority in Tiruchi on Sunday provided an opportunity to the judicial officers to understand the services being rendered by the advisors nominated by the State government to the unorganised workers welfare board. These advisors act as a bridge between the unorganised workers and the welfare board and ensure expeditious disbursement of relief to the workers. They also ascertain the eligibility of the beneficiaries. K.Uthirapathy, Principal District and Sessions Judge, who presided over the awareness camp, not only introduced K.Selvaraj, State advisory committee member of the Tamil Nadu Labour Welfare Board to the audience, but also assured that the authority would utilise his services. “Although your nomination is based on political affiliation, we should work together above any political affinity as our goal is common – to uphold the rights of the needy,” the Judge said amidst cheers.

L.RENGANATHAN AND M.BALAGANESSIN