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

Monday, September 25, 2017

12123 - Deport Bangladeshi Immigrants Along With Rohingyas Within a Year: PIL in SC - News 18


Amid the raging debate on deportation of Rohingyas to Myanmar, a fresh Public Interest Litigation filed in the Supreme Court on Friday sought the immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants, including those from Bangladesh, within a year.

Updated:September 22, 2017, 7:15 PM IST

New Delhi: Amid the raging debate on deportation of Rohingyas to Myanmar, a fresh Public Interest Litigation filed in the Supreme Court on Friday sought the immediate deportation of all illegal immigrants, including those from Bangladesh, within a year. The matter has been listed for hearing on October 3.

The petitioner, advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, said having Rohingyas in the country would amount to a serious security threat. He also pointed out before the court that states like Kerala had become a hot bed of illegal activities due to the infiltration of Bangladeshi immigrants.

“In August 2016, a native of west Bengal was arrested in Kerala, for insulting the national flag and he was later found to be an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh. There is said to be major racket at the borders of West Bengal and Assam with Bangladesh, which provides illegal migrants with identity cards. Even Kerala police are reportedly finding it difficult to check the influx of these Bangladeshi illegal migrants,” reads the petition. The petition also seeks amendments to the respective laws to make illegal migration and infiltration, a cognisable non-bailable and non-compoundable offence.

The petition also states that the Kerala State Intelligence officials said they found that “large section of migrant labourers in Kerala claiming to be from West Bengal or even Assam were actually from Bangladesh.” 

“Rohingyas with militant background are found to be very active in Jammu, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mewat, and have been identified as having a very serious and potential threat to the internal and national security of India,” the PIL further reads.

Since Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju had announced government’s plan to deport 40,000 Rohingyas, the Supreme Court has seen one petition after the other from both sides.

The PIL also sought the court’s directive to central and state governments to identify, detain and deport all the illegal migrants and infiltrators, including Bangladeshis and Rohingyas within one year. 

The apex court is also due to hear the case to determine whether the Section 6A of the Assam Accord is constitutionally valid or not which would have a direct bearing on the Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam post 1948.

Upadhyay’s petition unequivocally reiterates the stand taken by the government in its official affidavit. It claims that a normal citizen of India has a right to live in a good environment with freedom and dignity, except that Upadhyay claims that the existence of these refugees was bound to put this right of the citizen at risk.

News18 spoke to senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who is representing over 7000 Rohingyas from Jammu. He said “Rohingyas deserve to live in India as they have a constitutional right to stay and not because of sympathy”.

“It flows from Article 21 which guarantees Right to Life and it includes both citizens and as well as foreigners. Therefore the Constitution protects foreigners. Now if they are sent back then they will be raped, killed and houses will be burnt and lives would be under threat if the Indian government sends them back. Article 21 prohibits the government from causing threat to life to anybody,” said Gonsalves.

The PIL also sought making of forged or fabricated PAN Cards, Aadhaar Cards, Passport, Ration Cards or Voter Cards a non-bailable, non-compoundable and cognisable offence and seeks to amend the laws too.