AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 7770 - Parties vie for voters with polls around the corner

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, April 14, 2015

7770 - Parties vie for voters with polls around the corner

Parties vie for voters with polls around the corner

A Subburaj, TNN | Apr 13, 2015, 08.40AM IST

COIMBATORE: AIADMK, DMK, Congress and BJP have begun ground work for the upcoming assembly elections. On Sunday, AIADMK and DMK party functionaries approached new voters at the special camp held for linking Aadhaar card to voters' ID, and also started campaigning on the sides.

However, officials intervened and warned to not campaign inside the camp premises.

Special camps for linking Aadhaar card to voter's identity cards were held in Coimbatore urban and rural areas on Sunday. Thousands of voters came to the camp to submit photocopies of their Aadhaar and voter's ID to polling officials at various centers. Officials also received mobile numbers and email IDs from the voters and obtained their signatures on the electoral rolls.

A group of AIADMK and DMK functionaries camped at the Bishop Ambrose College near Sungam on Sunday and approached new voters inside the camp. The party functionaries brought Form 6 (inclusion of name in electoral roll) and issued them to the new voters. They also helped new voters to enroll their names in the electoral roll. Few of the party functionaries told the new voters that they should support their party in the upcoming assembly elections.

"We helped the voters enroll their names in the electoral roll," said DMK 74th ward secretary M Meganathan. He said the district administration had not employed enough staff to manage the crowd, despite asking voters from ward 74 of the Coimbatore Corporation to produce their photocopies at the camps. So, we helped the new voters and we hope to garner more new votes this coming elections, he said.

Election officials, after receiving complaints from other political parties, ordered AIADMK and DMK member campaigning at the special camps at Neelikonampalayam, Singnallur and Kavundamapalayam, to vacate the camp premises.

"This is not an election campaign. So, we warned functionaries to not approach voters in the camp. Parties were trying to woo new voters, but this is not an enrollment camp," said a senior official from the district administration.

Meanwhile, Congress conducted a meeting at RGP marriage hall at Kavundampalayam on Sunday and selected ward presidents who will be facing the upcoming assembly elections. "We decided to appoint a ward president, a vice-president and a secretary for 100 wards that fall within the Coimbatore Corporation. In a few weeks, we will appoint the booth vice-president and secretary in the city.

We wanted to unite all factions. We are going to conduct a training camp for booth committee members," said Congress' Coimbatore district president VMC Manoharan.

BJP district president R Nandakumar conducted a meeting at the party office on VKK Menon Road here on Sunday. He told TOI that the party has divided all the 100 wards into 12 zones. "We have been appointing ward-in-charge for every ward and getting ready to appoint booth committee membersWe have printed three lakh pamphlets about the achievement of Modi's government and we will be distributing them to the public next month," said Nandakumar. Over 250 members from DMK, AIADMK joined the BJP party on Sunday.

DMK south-urban district secretary Nachimuthu said that the party appointed a ward secretary for each ward and that they were focusing on increasing the membership of the party. "Our functionaries are approaching voters door-to-door to know about the people's mentality in the upcoming elections," said Nachimuthu.