AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 11481 - Modifest: Narendra Modi is not just a prime minister but an idea

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

Saturday, May 27, 2017

11481 - Modifest: Narendra Modi is not just a prime minister but an idea - Scroll.In

Modifest: Narendra Modi is not just a prime minister but an idea

His government is also close to breaking the record for the most wordplay in national history.

May 25, 2017 · 07:43 pm

Ipsita Chakravarty

Everyone knew Prime Minister Narendra Modi loved acronyms but now he has turned himself into one. Coming to a city near you, on May 26, is the Modifest, also known as the Making of Developed India Fest.

Move over Makers of Modern India – Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar and the rest. Move over public sector dams and factories, the “temples” of Nehruvian India and fusty socialism. Move over, Indira is India and garibi hatao. India is to be made over in someone else’s image.

Narendra Modi is no longer just the prime minister but an idea. He is also a festival to celebrate three years of the National Democratic Alliance government. To mark this double transfiguration, 900 cities across the country will see events based on the theme of so development, much wow.

First, Modi, the man and the idea, will inaugurate the Dholi-Sadiya bridge that cuts across the Brahmaputra and connects Assam with Arunachal Pradesh. At 9.15 kilometres, it will be the longest bridge in India. But naturally. Read the first item under terms and conditions for almost every government project: must break record.

Remember the Sardar Patel statue that is to be built on an island in the middle of the Narmada river? World’s tallest statue. And the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor? World’s largest infrastructural project. And the Aadhaar cards bearing unique identity numbers? World’s biggest biometric project (though the previous government can take some of that credit).

Moving on, there will be catchphrase-driven programmes in various cities: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas functions, where beneficiaries of government schemes will be in attendance, and Jan Ki Baat sessions, instead of the prime minister’s regular Mann Ki Baat monologues.

Say the word

Modi always had an acronymious relationship with words. He came to power speaking of 3Ss, 3Ps, the 5F formula and P2G2. If you do not know what they are, you need to check yourself in for a patriotism test. But then it evolved beyond awkwardly alliterative acronyms.

Like Modi, a word was not a word anymore but an idea. Take MOM, not your mother but the Mars Orbiter Mission. And JAM, no longer a fruit preserve but a grand scheme for direct cash transfers: Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile. And SCAM, not just the leisure activity of the Indian political class but code for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s political rivals: Samajwadi Party, Congress, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.

The alphabet was reinvented as a dictionary of Congress scams, as ABCD came to stand for Adarsh ghotala (corruption), Bofors ghotala, Coal ghotala and Damad ghotala. The last, presumably, was a reference to the misadventures of Robert Vadra.

The government itself was reinvented with new acronyms. NDA became short form for National Development Alliance. For the Uttar Pradesh elections, vikas was decomposed into vidyut (electricity), kanoon (law) and sadak (law).

Most wordplay ever

The trouble with word play is two can play at a game. Back in 1977, Jayaprakash Narayan had turned Indira Gandhi’s favourite catchphrase into a taunt: Indira hatao, desh bachao. After the National Development Alliance came to power, Congress politician Jairam Ramesh presented a set of alternative acronyms: Modi for Murder of Democratic India and NaMo for No Action, Message Only.

As the government prepared for Modifest, the Congress furiously tweeted about #MoDisaster:

With Congress

@WithCongress

Vulnerable sections have been crippled! Are these Achhe Din? #MoDisaster #ModiFest pic.twitter.com/NAWHDj6F6M

5:04 PM - 25 May 2017

Twitter

By: With Congress @WithCongress

134 RETWEETS 116 LIKES

	Pramod @eccentricPramod	May 25
	Replying to @WithCongress The funds r the same.Modi stopped the leakages.These r govt savings.Stupid Congress ministers were busy making money. #CongressSudhregiNahi
	View conversation ·

	Manohar Das Newra Jo @ManoharDasNewr1	May 25
	Replying to @WithCongress #Holybooks_Hidden_Treasure #SantRampalJi ब्रह्मा, विष्णु महेश किसकी भक्ति करते हैं? #KabirIsGod Supremegod.org
	View conversation ·

	IndiaFirst @JaiHindBharatt	May 25
	Replying to @WithCongress Vulnerable Sections = Vadra , Pryinaka's Mother-In-Law etc etc
	View conversation ·

	jinesh jain r p @jineshrp	May 26
	Replying to @WithCongress @divya96prasanna Meeting terrorists (Hurriyat)who want to destroy INDIA and doing honeymoon and calling those chutiya's as SAHAB'S is ache din ?
	View conversation ·