AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9227 - Former Maoists Reluctant to Accept Aid

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

Friday, January 8, 2016

9227 - Former Maoists Reluctant to Accept Aid

Former Maoists Reluctant to Accept Aid

By VK Lakshmi Gayatri

Published: 29th December 2015 05:16 AM

VISAKHAPATNAM: As they face threat to life from the Maoists, a large number of surrendered rebels and militia members are reluctant to receive government’s financial assistance in the north Andhra region. On humanitarian grounds, the police officials do their bit to make the payments even after bidding farewell to arms long back.

The police face tough time as the payments to the surrendered rebels must be done only through banks. As the surrendered Maoists do not have any identification proof like Aadhaar and ration cards, the bankers refuse to open the accounts. The police take personal initiative to help open the accounts. Even then several former comrades do not come forward to take the money as they cannot put to use the aid for personal needs at their dense forest hamlets.

As a strategy, the government offers some financial assistance, as per their rank in the Maoist movement, to the surrendered rebels for rehabilitation. Recently, the government increased the incentive from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. There are several cash rewards ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 4 lakh. During the past one decade a large number of Maoists, militia members and also sympathisers, for several reasons, surrendered before the police in the Visakhapatnam region.

According to the strict guidelines in the Maoists party, the surrendered persons should not receive any type of government aid like cash rewards and houses. Majority of the surrendered persons site health reasons to the Maoist leadership before bidding farewell. But the Maoists keep a tab on the lifestyle of the surrendered rebels and their revenue sources. There are several occasions when the Maoists severely beat up some of the surrendered Maoists for receiving cash awards. The Maoists impose various punishments on the surrendered persons, including excommunication.

“There is serious check from the Maoists on their former comrades’ lifestyle. If they find that the surrendered rebel purchased land or buffalo to lead a comfortable life, the Maoists take stringent action on them. Surrender is not a crime in the Maoist party, but it will be treated as a serious offence if they receive government aid. Once the lifestyle of surrendered rebels changes for the better, the Maoists fear that it may encourage other rebels and militia members to surrender. So they impose ‘killing’ as punishment,” a senior police officer lamented.

Meanwhile, the surrendered rebels do not have any identity proof like ration, voter and Aadhaar card. In order to hide their identity when they are in the movement, the Maoists do not register their names in any government records. Though the government plead with the bankers to open more branches in the 11 agency mandals of the district, the banks are reluctant because of poor financial transactions and extremist threat. The cheques which were issued in the name of the surrendered persons lapse as they are not deposited in the banks before due date.

The police open accounts in only one nationalised bank in Visakhapatnam city in favour of the surrendered rebels for encashing cheques. Though the money is credited in their accounts, they are not utilising it.

“Where and how can they utilise. If a surrendered person uses money at his/her tribal village, the Maoists brand them as police informers. How they will keep their passbooks with them? During some friendly policing and community policing programmes, banners are displayed announcing that the surrendered Maoists received aid from the government and they join the hit-list,” said a senior police official engaged in the anti-Maoist operations in the agency. Police superintendent K Praveen confirmed the same and said that due to the threat from the Maoists, the surrendered persons do not receive the government financial assistance. The surrendered rebels are scared of Maoists if at all they receive money from the government. After receiving the money their lifestyle changes, provoking the Maoists. The surrendered rebels, who leave their tribal village, accept the aid.