India is passing through one of the “Most
Dangerous Periods” for Civil Liberties and Human Rights
Protections. No time in the past Indian Citizens were so “Vulnerable”
to Human Rights Violations and blatant violation of their Fundamental
Rights.
The Constitution of India has conferred many
Fundamental Rights upon Indian Citizens and Persons. However, Indian
Government is acting in clear “Derogation” of these Fundamental
Rights and Human Rights.
Article 21 of Indian Constitution confers Privacy
Rights in India to all. Similarly, Article 21 also confers
Right to Life and Liberty to all that cannot be taken away except by
“Due Process of Law”. Articles 14, 19 and 21 collectively protect
against “Arbitrary and Unconstitutional State Actions”.
Despite all these “Protections and Rights” we
have Authorities like Unique Identification Authority of India
(UIDAI) that is not governed by any Law whatsoever. Similarly, we
have provisions pertaining to National Population Register (NPR) of
India that are clearly “Unconstitutional”.
We have no dedicated Data
Protection Laws in India, Data
Security Laws in India, Cyber
Security Laws in India, etc. Even the Cyber
Law of India, incorporated in the Information Technology
Act, 2000 (IT Act 2000), is an “Endemic
E-Surveillance Enabling Law” that requires urgent
“Repeal”.
Cyber
Security in India is also in bad shape and even the
Supreme Court of India has chided
Indian Government to boost up its Cyber Security to protect National
Security of India. National
Security and Right to Information in India are on
“Crossroads” where the “National Security Card” is very
frequently played by Indian Government to deny “Legitimate and
Eligible Information” to Indian Citizens.
In all this “Political and Legislative Mess” we
have a “Bonus” for Indian Government as well. The Parliamentary
Oversight of Intelligence Agencies of India is missing and
they are “Not
Accountable” to any “Legislative and Parliamentary
Scrutiny”. Intelligence related Projects like National
Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), Central
Monitoring System (CMS) of India, proposed National
Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) of India, etc have no
Parliamentary Approval and Oversight.
There is no second opinion that collection of
“Highly Sensitive Biometric Details” by any Governmental Agency
or Authority in such circumstances is not only “Unconstitutional”
but is also “Highly Risky” for Life and Liberty of Indian
Citizens/Persons. In fact, collection of Biometric Details by UIDAI
and NPR are clearly “Unconstitutional
and Illegal” and Indian Citizens and Residents can
“Refuse” to provide the same no matter what these Authorities and
Laws say.
Human
Rights Protection in India is at its nadir. Similarly,
Civil Liberties Protection in Indian Cyberspace is in doldrums. If we
keep on succumbing to the “Pressure Tactics” of Indian
Government, the day would be not far when Indian Government would
have complete control over our “Body and Soul”.
