Saffron Groups may use Aadhaar for Campain for Hindurashtra

The Union government has already confessed to the Supreme Court that the personal datas of some Aadhaar card-holders had been leaked. This confession is suffice to expose the tall claims of the Modi government that Adhaar was a safe and secured instrument. Though some rights organisations and activists have claimed that Aadhaar was not in the interest of the common people and it violated the basic concept of right to privacy, the government and its mandarins have strongly denied this. Critics of the government’s decision to make Aadhaar mandatory for everything, from obtaining PAN cards to getting benefits of the welfare projects, cautioned that the move would “dilute civil liberties and dominate the citizens”.

That the government was uttering a white lie was in fact exposed by the Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, who while defending the move to make Aadhaar mandatory for PAN cards, told the apex court that “one cannot have an absolute right over his or her body”. This reflects the mind-set of the ruling elites and their mandarins. Ever since the saffron outfit came to the power, a consistent effort was being made to do away with the basic rights of an individual. The Sangh is scared of the basic concept of, exchange of free ideas and the fundamental rights of an individual. This a major stumbling block in the path of RSS in moving towards creation of a Hindu Rashtra.

Under pressure from the democratic and secular forces the Narendra Modi government on August 3 shelved a saffron proposal to create a social communication hub. Nevertheless the move to create such a hub underlines the fact that the RSS and the Modi government treat the rights to communicate as a major threat to their survival. Incidentally this move of saffron government had prompted the Supreme Court to observe that the country cannot become a “surveillance state”. In fact Narendra Modi owes an explanation to the country and its people what made Modi to come up with this nature of autocratic mechanism. Who he is scared off? Who he intended to terrorise? Does he think that a situation like emergency is prevailing in the country? Modi government must feel ashamed for creating a Frankstine.

Being pulled up by the apex court the attorney general promised to the court that the government will review its decision and would not go ahead with the proposal to open the software tender on August 20. Shocking indeed the nefarious design of the RSS continues to be on the agenda of the Modi government. On July 13 the Supreme Court had asked the government whether the move by the Centre to create the hub was to monitor social media messages. “If every single tweet or WhatsApp message is monitored, we will be moving towards becoming a surveillance state,” Justice D.Y. Chandrachud had said. No doubt this move of the Modi government was a snoop. It was the new avatar of the emergency censure and also reminisces the actions of Uncle Sam. It aimed at identifying the rebels and dissenters. It is really interesting to watch that the Sangh has been keen to put a tab on the people. This is a Nazi strategy. For Hitler people, the citizens have no right to privacy. The RSS a firm believer in Nazi style of governance has been following in the footsteps of Hitler. Nevertheless in its haste the RSS forgot that India is not Hitler’s Germany.

The saffron government was not right was proved candidly by the Supreme Court order on the right to privacy. The nine-judge constitution bench unanimously ruled that the right to privacy was a fundamental right while asserting the State could not dictate what people should eat or wear or who they should associate with personally, socially or politically. If a person is denied the right on his body then the entire concept of living, livelihood, yearning for survival becomes irrelevant. The Sangh intended to have a regimented citizenry which has no guts to raise its voice and oppose the government action. The stand of the government on Aadhaar and creation of surveillance hub ought to be seen in the backdrop of an attempt to gag the voice of the people.

No doubt the UPA had introduced the concept of Aadhaar. But what Saffron government is pushing in the public domain is entirely different from the UPA concept. Why the government was hell bent on tagging it with the life of the people. People have now started saying that Modi government will make Aadhaar compulsory for a newlywed couple for even enjoying honeymoon. This would be eventually the highest form of authoritarianism. It is ridiculous why only for serving the interest of the market forces and protecting the needs of the capitalist economy the government was making such absurd statements and claims?

Why is the Modi government out to fool the people? The arguments of its lawyers before the court are really ridiculous. While they say, “Aadhaar is currently the most foolproof method that has evolved” they also point out that the technology is not foolproof. Technology is evolving and I cannot say what will happen after 20 years, whether it will still be safe. But as of now, biometrics is the safest.’’ Strange is the argument. The fact of the matter is Aadhaar-like system had not been implemented in any country which calls itself democratic. Through this, a person can be tracked and remain under surveillance throughout his life.

It is a false statement that Aadhaar is “voluntary”. In recent months it has also been candidly proved that there is serious threat of misuse or leakage of Aadhaar data. The law says life and body is paramount and if the fingerprints of an individual are stolen, it would end his identity. It is an open secret that state is determined to finish civil liberties and dominate its citizens. The concept of civil liberties will go then. India is at risk of becoming a surveillance state, with faint resistance from libertarians, intellectuals, political parties, the media, or the Supreme Court. Most of these databases will be accessible to the government without invoking any special powers. With everyone on the radar, dissent is bound to be stifled. With Aadhaar being made compulsory in what sense is it voluntary? It is a misnomer that Aadhaar is to help welfare schemes. The truth is welfare schemes have been used to promote Aadhaar. It is neither an instrument to fight corruption nor a mechanism to ensure ration for food.

It is really intriguing and people should feel ashamed that the Aadhaar was being used to define the nationality. There is an ambiguity about the relation between Aadhaar and citizenship. Why has enrolment been stopped in Assam? Why its enrolment in Assam being linked to the National Register of Citizens? People would have to assert their existence. A mere government diktat must not define the life of an individual and the right of his privacy. The apex court has already ruled that individual privacy is a fundamental right under the Constitution, in a verdict that could impact everything from the way companies handle personal data to the roll-out of the world’s largest biometric ID card programme. The government ought to be told in no uncertain terms: “criticism and critique lie at the core of democratic governance. Tolerance of dissent is equally a cherished value” Significantly the court has already observed “the refrain that the poor need no civil and political rights and are concerned only with economic well-being has been utilised though history to wreak the most egregious violations of human rights.” Nevertheless it is expected of the Supreme Court that it would come out with a clear and candid verdict on this issue at the earliest. The more the delay, the interest of the common people is being jeopardised more.