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

Thursday, July 27, 2017

11659 - Explaining Aadhaar to my 5 year old Grand niece Asha

Explaining Aadhaar to my 5 year old Grand niece Asha
By Ram Krishnaswamy

Asha: Mamathatha, You are always working on your Computer. Can you tell me what you do ?
Me: Behni, I am posting articles on my Blog
Asha: What is a Blog Mamathatha ?
Me: Mmmm… Let me think… You now how you can watch Cartoons on You Tube. Some one created that on Youtube so you and other kids can watch it on your iPads when ever you feel like. The same way people all over the world who are interested can read what ever I post on my Blog.
Asha: Can I please look at your Blog ? Please…
Me: why not (I show her the Aadhaar Blog) http://aadhaar-articles.blogspot.com.au/.

She grabs the mouse and scrolls up and down the screen looking at the Aadhaar Blog

Asha: Wow It is sooo big. Can you tell me about the Blog please.
Me: I think it is too complicated even for adults so you may not understand anything.
Asha: Mamathatha, Please tell me about it like a story you tells us before bed time
Me: Ok let me try. I started this Blog in 2010 before you were born and have been doing it for seven years now. I have posted 11,500 articles published by news papers on Aadhaar and so far about 883,000 people have visited my blog to read the articles
Asha: Mamathatha: Look at this pointing to her iPad: Moana got 219 462 937 views
Me: Yes kids love Moana more than grown ups read my Blog

Asha: What is Aadhaar ?
Me: Aadhaar is a number given to all Indians residents by the Government
Asha: what is resident ?
Me: Some one who resides there or lives there. Like I reside in this home
Asha: What is my Aadhaar Number Mamathatha ?
Me: No you don’t have one because you are in Australia and were born in Sydney even though your parents were born in India
Asha: why do people in India need this number Mamathatha?
Me: There are too many poor people in India and the Govt has given people a number to everyone so they can show the number to get cheaper rice and wheat and kerosene supplied by the Govt for the poor people
Asha: How many poor people are there in India ?
Me: About 400 Million People.
Asha: How many is that ?
Me: let us say Australia has 25 million people altogether. India has 8 times more poor people in India and about 25 times more people altogether.
Asha: I don’t understand big numbers.. You mean Very very Big
Me: Yes. Say in the whole world we have 7 Billion people and India alone we have 1 billion people. For example for every seven people in the world we have one person living in India. And China has more people than India.
Asha: Mamathatha, remember you told me Bailey (our Labrador) has a secret number in his ear, so when he gets lost finders or Police can read the number and bring him back home.
Me: Behni, you are such a clever cookie, I am sooo proud of you. Yes Bailey has a Microchip in his ear. Yes every one in India now has to get a number but there is no microchip in the ear. Every one has to remember the number and they also get a card board card with the number on it like the medicare card that you give your doctors when you visit them.
Asha: That is very good mamathatha. Australia should also do that.
Me: Yes and No
Asha: what do you mean yes and No?
Me: Yes it is good as it helps the Govt to help the needy poor people. No because the Govt can misuse the number against the people.
Asha: what is a Government ?
Me: Remember elections when we went to the school building and voted for people we liked to join the Govt ?
Asha: Yes
Me: The Government is made up of chosen people from each part of the country who received the most votes. So in India we have 545 people in the Govt and they are supposed to do what is right for the people of India, not just those who voted for them.
Asha: Mamathatha do you like Aadhaar ?
Me: No
Asha: Why ?
Me: The Government is made up of good and bad selfish people, some smart and some not so smart. You have 545 members in Lok Sabha, and 245 members in Rajya sabha almost 800 people who make all the rules for the whole country and the Government of India has almost 18 million public servants meaning people who work for the Govt applying all the rules on the people.
Asha: why so many people ?
Me: they do all the work for the Government and there is a lot of work
Asha: why don’t you like Aadhaar Mamathatha?
Me: Go to bed it is getting late.
Asha: Please tell me
Me: Ok, how can I explain this to a little girl like you…..Ok what do we do before we go to bed ?
Asha: we check and make sure all doors are locked so that we are all safe in our home and then say prayers
Me: Excellent. Remember that every one lives in their homes or apartments and all have doors with keys to open and shut the doors. Each key is unique and our house key cannot open any other house door. We need this unique key for our doors so we are secure in our homes and have total privacy so no one can see or interfere with our private lives.
Asha: Yes we have curtains too. I know that is why you have two dead locks on the front door plus a steel security door so no thief can break into the house at any time.
Me: Yes absolutely. We feel safe and secure at home and don’t worry about baddies. Now imagine if every one has to give a copy of our house keys to the Govt for safe keeping so they can help us out in an emergency. Do you think we should all give our house keys to the Govt ?
Asha: No way ? We do not know who is in the Government and what they will do with our keys. There could be baddies in the Govt who can use the key and come into our house when we are asleep..
Me: Exactly. That is why I don’t like Aadhaar as Aadhaar is like a key to every person’s heart and all personal information and we do not want some baddies in the Govt to use Aadhaar to look into our private lives. Now time to go to Bed Good Night


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