AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13108 - Ragam concludes with cultural, literary events

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, March 26, 2018

13108 - Ragam concludes with cultural, literary events - The Hindu

Ragam concludes with cultural, literary events

STAFF REPORTER

Staff Reporter (Aabha Raveendran)Kozhikode:

MARCH 26, 2018 01:45 IST

Street play held as part of Ragam in Kozhikode

The festival witnessed participation by students from various colleges across the country

Ragam, the annual cultural fiesta of the National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode, concluded on Sunday, marked by overwhelming participation by students from various colleges across the country.

The NITC Model United Nations was one of the major events with the participation of 143 delegates. The participants were split into two committees - the United Nations General Assembly on Disarmament and International Security (UNGA-DISEC) and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The topic of the discussion was “Tackling the issue of political and social unrest in the Middle East, with special reference to disarming terrorist organisations involved in the transnational conflicts”.

The last day saw finals of events like crime scene investigation, mock court, and Mr. and Ms. Ragam. The dance events for the day included classical dance and tangled, a duet dance competition. The fine arts section of Ragam ’18 witnessed events like face painting competition, face to face and a mehendi competition. The Kalolsavam, presenting several mono act and dance events, turned out to be a huge crowd-puller. The stand up comedy event featured aspiring comedians who provided a laugh riot. The musical soiree had acoustics, a battle of notes and beats among the best bands across the country, Western music solo and string solo. The open general quiz and open mela quiz saw over 20 teams give each other a run for their money. Salt and pepper, the culinary event, saw cooking enthusiasts battling it out to meet the judges’ expectations.

The concluding day of the literary fest I-INK hosted eminent law experts and social activists to take part in a discussion on ‘Aadhaar: State and Citizens’ which detailed the aspects of Aadhaar from the origin of the idea to the privacy of the citizen. The panellists were Usha Ramanathan, an expert on law and poverty, Anupam Saraph, innovator and polymath, and Anivar A. Aravind, founder and executive director of the Indic Project.

The highlights of the day were the dramatic events, streetplay and English drama. Take one, the short film contest was another major attraction. Besides screening of notable short films, the fest also included a panel discussion and an interactive session on “independent cinema”.

Performances by stand-up comedian Sahil Shah, acrobatics from the Fire and Circus Arts Collective, Industribe, ‘Metal Sitar’ by Rishabh Seen and DJ-nite starring Aron Chupa and Sara Santini were the other attractions of the final day.